Sword That Pierces The Heavens
by Prince Mikhail
Summary: "Abandon your fear Ichigo, face forward. Move forward and never stop. Retreat and you will age, hesitate...and you will die. Together, we will ascend and tear the very heavens asunder." With a better connection to his zanpakuto than we have seen before, Ichigo will finally fully realize his vast potential. BAMF Ichigo
1. In the beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**AN: So far, I doubt there will be any pairings in this story...but well, we'll see how it goes. The premise for this story is a different Ichigo going through the events of the Bleach storyline. I aim to make him more cool headed, logical and just generally not a brash teen who rushes mindlessly into things. I would say that he would not become over powered, but then, in a world where beings redefine the landscape with the swing of a sword, what is overpowered? Anyway, BAMF Ichigo**

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo groaned as he opened his eyes to face a new day. His still sluggish mind noted that his dad hadn't yet come to wake him up in his usual over the top way. Grateful for small mercies, he rolled off the bed, getting up in a motion that was entirely too graceful for a person just waking up. Just then, his sharp hearing picked up hurried footsteps approaching his door. With an exasperated sigh, he turned, threw his window open while simultaneously stepping aside. Right on cue, the bearded form of Kurosaki Isshin sailed through the kicked open door with a cry of,

"Good morning, Ichigo!"

His voice cut off in a yelp once he registered the lack of impact, followed by the sight of the rapidly approaching floor outside his son's window.

Ichigo blithely ignored the painful thud of his father's stoppable body meeting the immovable object that is the ground. He made his way out of his room and to the bathroom to begin preparations for yet another day.

Kurosaki Yuzu spun from her place in front of the stove when she picked up the even footsteps of her brother coming down the stairs. With a bright smile on her face, she moved forward to receive her customary good morning hug and kiss on the forehead from her beloved brother. She chirped back a greeting to him, as he moved on to do the same to her twin sister, Karin, who made a fuss, grumbled about being too old for such things, though she still did nothing to prevent Ichigo's actions.

Ichigo didn't bother hiding his fond smile at his black haired sister's usual protests, fully aware that they were cursory at best. He turned to take his seat, waiting for Yuzu to put the finishing touches on the day's breakfast. Abruptly, his fist lashed out in a preemptive strike to disable his father, who had been trying to carry out a sneak attack on his person.

Slumping to the floor in pain, Isshin's nasal and weakened voice groaned out,

"Excellent reflexes son, I have trained you well."

Ichigo merely shook his head at his crazy father's antics, prompting the man to begin wailing to the huge poster of their deceased mother, complaining about how their delinquent son didn't love his father anymore.

Ichigo's brown eyes involuntarily softened as he took in the tableau before him; his cute little sister finishing up the family's breakfast while her twin derided their wailing father, admonishing him for acting like a man child. He was reminded, once again, of the promise he had made to himself a few days after his mother was killed - _murdered_.

* * *

It had taken a few days for Ichigo to finally believe his father when he told him that no one blamed him, and that Masaki gave her life for him out of love for him, as any good mother would. He had vowed then to never act so brashly again, especially not when it had already cost him the life of his beloved mother. He forced himself to learn restraint and self-control. He even went so far as to quit karate and convince his father to enroll him in Tai Chi classes instead, hoping to achieve a level of internal peace and balance that would facilitate his efforts to become more level headed.

It worked…spectacularly.

With the lessons, both physical and mental, that he learned from his sensei, Ichigo grew up to be an amazing young man: a polite, reasonable, and calm individual to strangers he met, a fierce and terrible opponent to bullies and delinquents who would think to pick on him for his hair color, a loyal and dependable person to the few real friends he made, and finally, the best big brother Yuzu and Karin could have ever asked for; all in all, a person that his mother would have been immensely proud of.

It had taken him merely three years to master all that his teacher had to teach him, before he sought to branch out and learn other things. He took classes in Wushu and Kendo, displaying in both disciplines, a prodigious talent that enabled him to quickly master all that was put before him. And now that he was done with formal instruction, he still kept up a practice of personal exercises to ensure that he didn't lose all that he had learnt.

His interactions with the people around him had changed from what they might have been had he not made his personal decision. To his classmates, he came across as unapproachable. His level of focus allowed him to constantly maintain a high level of academic performance, often attaining a spot amongst the top five students in his year. His obvious intelligence, coupled with his usually stoic demeanor kept most people from approaching him freely.

His close friends knew that they could count on him to always be there whenever they needed him, as evidenced by the numerous times he went out of his way to protect them from bullies. Though he was never blatantly open around them, they had come to learn that whenever they spoke, he listened. Even Keigo, for all his flamboyant goofiness knew that Ichigo would be there for him when it counted.

As a student of two schools of unarmed combat, Ichigo was a foe beyond the ken of any of Karakura's thugs and delinquents. Of course, it had taken them a few encounters, and ruthless beatings, for them to learn that valuable lesson. Now, they know that attacking him with less than fifteen people was just asking to be mowed down in seconds. Tatsuki, after seeing him take apart a group of bandits that had been attacking Chad, the pacifist, had decided that she was glad that Ichigo had quit karate; she enjoyed being the top student too much to give that up.

Though he was often stoic when out in public, Ichigo never kept from showing his sisters how much he cared about them. He wasn't shy about laughing freely or smiling in their presence. The first time that Isshin had brought the two girls to meet Ichigo at the end of a school day, jaws had dropped when Ichigo had caught the running bodies of his sisters in a hug, with an open and loving smile on his face.

He tried his best to always be around to pick his sisters up at the end of school, as well as, always attend Karin's soccer matches. It was he who had taught Yuzu how to cook when she expressed the desire to take over the chores from Ichigo after their mum had died. It was he who took Karin shopping for her first soccer boots, signed her up for the soccer club, and practiced with her whenever he had the time. It was he whom the girls told personal things to, as well as the one who got Tatsuki to give them the talk about becoming women. Yuzu and Karin loved him unconditionally, just as he did them.

The sound of a plate being placed in front of him drew him out of his thoughts. He smiled his usual small smile at Yuzu in thanks, before he waited for everyone else to receive their own dishes. Together, the Kurosaki family began their breakfast under the watchful and loving eyes of Kurosaki Masaki.

* * *

"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun."

The cheerful voice of Inoue Orihime drew Ichigo's gaze from the scenery outside his window. His calm face, the norm when not in the presence of his sisters, turned in her direction and with an incline of his head, he replied,

"Good morning Inoue."

Before more could be said, the deep voice of Yasutora Sado, Chad to his friends, drifted to their ears,

"Good morning"

The two redheads responded in kind.

Without any warning, two arms appeared around Inoue's torso, blatantly copping a feel. Ichigo merely counted down, _three, two, one_.

With an echoing smack, Chizuru was torn away from Inoue by a harsh blow from Arisawa Tatsuki, renowned Karate champion, and Inoue's self-appointed guardian. Ichigo shook his head as Tatsuki began to fuss over Inoue, while simultaneously threatening Chizuru with bodily harm. From the corner of his eye, he spied the approaching figure of Asano Keigo, and just as he was gearing up to deal with more drama, the bell rang, signifying the start of the school day. With an inaudible sigh of relief, he turned to face the board just as his homeroom teacher walked in.

"Ichi-nii!"

The bright voice of Kurosaki Yuzu cut through the noise caused by departing middle schoolers, drawing the eyes of her brother, as well as, those of most of the people around her. Too happy to feel embarrassed at the attention, Yuzu skipped towards Ichigo's standing from by the school entrance, dragging her twin sister along. The other middle schoolers, long since used to the presence of the oldest Kurosaki child at the end of the school day, barely glanced in his direction, before continuing on to their respective homes.

Ichigo caught Yuzu as she propelled herself at him, swinging her around with a smile on his face. When he put her down, he turned to Karin and his grin widened when he read the stubborn look in her eyes. Before she could react, his hand was suddenly in her hair, ruffling it, much to her consternation, as evidenced by her attempts to bat away his hand. Giving off a huff of laughter, he turned to take Yuzu's hand in his left, and Karin's in his right, and together, the Kurosaki siblings set off for their home.

As was always the case, Yuzu talked enthusiastically about her day, until Karin deigned to join in as well, telling him about a soccer match she dominated and a particularly arrogant brat she knocked down a peg or two. Through it all, Ichigo gave them his full attention, listening to them and reacting appropriately in all the right places. Women who saw them walking cooed at how cute they looked, and how obviously caring Ichigo was to his sisters.

* * *

With a graceful roundhouse kick, Ichigo ended the last of his katas for the day. He then began a series of fluid and smooth warm down movements, all the while relishing the cool breeze blowing in from his open window. Finally done, he stepped off his practice mat and set about moving things back into position in his room. He then left to take a bath after he was done, to wash off the accumulated sweat from his two hours long workout. Since the next day was a Saturday, he had no compulsion to go to bed early, and so set about doing his homework, intending to clear up his schedule for the weekend. He was just about finished when he felt a chilling change in the air. Silently, he got off his seat and walked towards the window to look outside. He saw nothing to account for his unease, neither humans nor spirits.

When Ichigo had set out to master himself via tai chi, it had had a side effect in addition to granting him an internal peace. Whereas before his reiatsu was a raging storm, unreasonably powerful for an ordinary human, now, it was smooth and calm, much like deep sea. His mental fortitude had also strengthened the potency of his reiatsu, further increasing its sheer power.

The effect of this change was that where before his out of control spiritual energy served as a beacon to hollows everywhere, attracting them and making the resident Shinigami's job all the more difficult, it now served to do the opposite.

Hollows who knew better realized that his reiatsu was much akin to that of a high level Shinigami who had a reasonable level of control over his powers; in essence, a deadly opponent for them to hunt. The result was that Ichigo rarely, if ever, ended up running across any hollows whatsoever since the foolish ones that chose to come after him were the weaker ones, and thus easily slain by the Shinigami stationed in Karakura Town.

Furthermore, since Ichigo's reiatsu was no longer the turbulent mess that it was, the effect on the people around him was practically nonexistent. That meant that the other humans he constantly hung out with would never end up being changed by his fluctuating reiatsu.

Determining that there was nothing outside his window, Ichigo turned to return to his desk when he suddenly froze. Emerging seamlessly from the wall in his bedroom was the petite figure of a young female clad in a black shihakusho, with a sword at her waist. Making no moves whatsoever, his sharp gaze calmly observed her for any sudden hostile actions.

Surprisingly, he noticed that her eyes were constantly shifting, as though searching for something, yet never focusing on his figure standing right in front of her. With dawning comprehension, he realized that she fully expected him not to be able to see her, much like many deceased souls had in the past. Confident that she would continue to ignore him lest he did something to garner her attention, he returned to studying her intently. From the top of her black hair, to her violet eyes, all they was down to her sandaled feet, he observed and catalogued.

Kuchiki Rukia coolly surveyed the room she was standing in. Earlier in the day, a particular determined hollow had attacked a plus soul, even with her presence not too far away. She had interrupted it, causing it to flee before it could devour the child. After performing konso on the little girl's soul, she had set off to track the hollow down; leading her to the house she was standing in.

She absently noticed that the room she had just entered was occupied by a tall male teenager with the most outrageous hair color. Dismissing the human from her thoughts, she observed her surroundings, constantly casting her senses out in search of the hollow's presence.

Her carefully constructed Kuchiki mask prevented her frustration from showing when she noticed that something was interfering with her senses. It was then that she felt a shiver up her spine, followed by the sensation of being closely scrutinized. Her eyes snapped back towards the human boy she had previously dismissed, to meet even brown eyes staring _straight_ _at_ _her_. Shocked that a human could actually see her, she stuttered out,

"You…you can s-"

A high pitched scream, followed by a crashing sound from downstairs abruptly cut her off, and before she could adjust to the new development, the teenager was already out the door in a blur of motion.

* * *

Ichigo, practically flying down the stairs, suddenly drew up short as he took in the scene before him.

His father was bleeding and unconscious on the floor, having obviously thrown himself over Yuzu to protect her. There was a hole in the wall and through it he could see the form of his other sister, held in the hand of a creature straight out of a nightmare. His observations only took a second however, and his course was set. Without hesitating, he dashed towards the hole in the wall, not even slowing down as his hand reached out to grasp a metal leg from one of the chairs that had been destroyed. As he neared the monster holding his sister, he struck.

In one fluid motion, the metal leg, long since saturated with potent reiatsu from years of being in the same house as the Kurosaki family, was launched towards one of the eye sockets in the bone white skull of the beast…it flew true.

With a howl of pain, the monster released Karin as it clawed desperately at the object suddenly sticking out of its eye. Karin, just barely conscious, fell through the air to land in the waiting arms of her brother.

Relieved that his sister was alright, Ichigo wasted no time in getting out of there; he immediately ran back into the house, and placed Karin's now unconscious body next to the rest of his family, intending to check them over for life threatening injuries.

Rukia snapped out of her shock at seeing a human teen harm a hollow with naught but a metal rod. She barely spared a moment to cast a glance at the now fussing teen before she launched herself outside in a flurry of black and white, to clash with the injured hollow. Though the beast was of slightly above average strength, the debilitating injury to its eye proved to be its downfall, and after a few exchanges, it finally fell to Sode no Shirayuki.

Turning from the disappearing corpse of the purified hollow, Rukia met the eyes of the kneeling Kurosaki Ichigo. She noticed that during her fight, he had retrieved a first aid kit and attended to his injured family. Her attention turned back to him as his eyes abruptly widened in alarm. Before she could wonder at his actions, her world exploded in soul searing pain – _literally_ – as the jaws of another hollow clamped down on the right side of her body. The only thing that saved her from sudden death was the fact that she still had her sword in her hand, and when the hollow attempted to bite through her, the roof of its mouth was pierced, forcing it to release her gravely wounded, but alive, form.

Howling in pain, the hollow retreated into a black portal…for a time.

As she slumped to the floor in pain, Ichigo was already kneeling next to the bleeding form of the black clad female who had inadvertently helped his family. His eyes, trained from years of living with a medical doctor, clinically catalogued her injuries and reached the correct conclusion; she was too injured to continue fighting. Just as he had that thought, the monster returned to finish off what it had started.

Realizing that he was all that stood between his family and certain death, he turned to face the lumbering giant. But before he could proceed to engage the beast, _for all the good he could do_, a hand on his arm stopped him. Turning to face the wounded girl beside him, his ears barely caught her haltingly spoken words,

"Wait…my sword, take it and pierce your heart…it…my power will transfer…"

His quick mind easily grasped her intention, and seeing no other option before him, he chose to do as she said. Wrapping his hands around hers on the hilt, he placed the tip of the sword against his heart.

Rukia, expecting some hesitation on his part, was stunned silent when he smoothly slid the blade into his chest. Immediately, she began to pump what was left of her power into the blade, transferring some of her Shinigami abilities to the teen…well, at least, that was her intention.

In an explosion of light and sound, Rukia felt a huge amount of her Shinigami powers get sucked out by the soul of the orange haired teenager before her. Her eyes widened in shock when she sensed the amount of reiatsu suddenly being put out by Ichigo; _that's…that's sixth seat at least_!

Ichigo felt a sudden influx of energy deep within him, in a place beyond physical sensation. Before he could be overwhelmed, his training abruptly kicked in and he began to try to regulate the suddenly turbulent energy, seeking his calm center in order to tame and master it. Gradually, the raging storm of reiatsu calmed down and evened out, revealing Ichigo's new form once the dust kicked up by the explosion had cleared out.

Clad in a black shihakusho, he cut an awe inspiring figure with a scabbard attached to his back, housing a broad katana that was as long as he was tall. Reaching behind him, all the while keeping his focused gaze on the now stationary monster, Ichigo grasped the red handle of his new sword and smoothly slid it out of its sheath. Hefting it, he gave it a few practice swings to get a feel for the weapon. Satisfied that it would do for now, he turned his full attention on the hollow before him. His sharp gaze assessed the beast and determined that he shouldn't take any chances; _go for the head._

Like a shot, he was off, suddenly blurring across the ground towards the target. Years of mastering his body allowed him to easily compensate for his suddenly improved speed, as well as, the increased strength of his body. His eyes tracked the movement of the hollow's arm as it tried to intercept him.

With a deft twist of his body, he was suddenly spinning past the outstretched arm, without losing any momentum. There was suddenly a flash of silver, and the reaching arm fell off at the elbow, sliced effortlessly by Ichigo's blade.

Before the hollow could react to the pain of a missing limb, Ichigo was in the air in front of its face, his sword already descending on a sure path for its head.

In a flash, it was all over, and the bisected corpse of the hollow fell into two rapidly dissolving parts.

Rukia couldn't take her eyes off the approaching figure before her. Never, in her relatively long life, had she ever imagined that such a thing was possible; that a human would possess such vast amounts reiatsu, and would wield the power with the sort of casual ease of seated officers. Looking at the size of the sword at his back, she found her disbelief growing when she noticed its size. Without think, she tried to move, and suddenly had to bite back a scream as her grievous wound was aggravated. With her vision rapidly darkening, the last thing she saw was a hand reaching for her.

Ichigo caught Rukia just as she slipped into full unconsciousness. With a weary sigh, he laid her gently on the floor, knowing better than to move her before taking care of her injuries. Before he left to retrieve the first aid kit, absently wondering if it would work on a soul, his gaze cut to the side, zeroing in on a patch of darkness down the street. After a few moments, he shook his head and turned back to continue his journey to get the medical kit.

Hidden from sight, Urahara Kisuke finally released the breath he had been holding, startled by the close call. He had taken the chance, while Ichigo had been fighting the hollow, to replace the first aid kit in the house with a replica that would function on a soul like Rukia's.

* * *

The next morning, Kurosaki Isshin was back to his usual ways, running about and generally making a fool out of himself, as though his injuries of the day before were completely healed. Somehow, he had gotten it into his head that a truck had crashed into their living room, resulting in the damage that they discovered the next day.

Having been knocked unconscious straight away, Yuzu had no reason to doubt him, and was only glad that Ichigo had been around to care for them as he did. Karin, on the other hand, was slightly skeptical of his claims, though her memory was hazy on the events, owing to a head injury she had sustained. Through it all, Ichigo merely fussed over his sisters without saying a word; he had every intention of keeping the two girls as far away from the supernatural world as possible.

With a groan, Rukia came awake to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling above her head. Turning to look at herself, she noticed that her body had been cleaned up and bandaged. Flushing in embarrassment, she clutched the sheets over herself when she realized that her clothes had also been changed. Sensing a gaze on her, she looked up to meet the calm brown eyes of an orange haired teenager.

Suddenly, It all came rushing back.

She almost lurched up, only just stopped in place by the hand that was suddenly on her shoulders. Before she could give voice to her indignation, Ichigo spoke,

"Stay still. Though you can't feel it, you were hurt pretty bad. Moving now will only rip out your stitches."

At his words, Rukia finally stopped struggling. With a nod, she accepted his help in getting her to sit up, taking care not to aggravate her healing wounds. She expected to be immediately interrogated about the happenings of last night, but she was surprised when instead, her host placed a bed tray with breakfast in front of her. Suddenly famished, she immediately dug in, still maintaining the manners that had been drilled into her as a Kuchiki.

Ichigo calmly observed the petite female as she ate the food he had brought for her. Seeing that she was done, he moved forward to clear away the dishes, and then he returned to his seat, and to watching her.

Rukia fought not to squirm under the impassive gaze of the orange haired teenager, internally berating herself for letting him get to her. Deciding to get the questions out of the way, she asked,

"I guess you have questions?"

Ichigo merely inclined his head towards her. Taking his nod for agreement, she began to explain about Shinigami and their jobs to hunt down hollows, intending to take the initiative and only tell him as much she felt he needed to know. Since the topic was broad, she was forced to be vague and brief in many parts. Finally satisfied that she had given him the bare bones of the matter, she trailed off and awaited his reaction…it was not what she expected.

Having taken in and dissected all that he had just heard, Ichigo was dissatisfied with her explanation; he felt that she was hiding important information from him, information that could matter in his bid to keep his loved ones safe from the dangers of the supernatural world. Determined to learn all that he could, he set about questioning his guest, absently musing that he was lucky that his dad had taken his sisters out for the day,

"I see. I am grateful for your explanation, yet I can't help but feel like it was not the full story."

In an exasperated tone, Rukia responded,

"Of course it wasn't the whole story…that would take too long."

Ichigo merely raised an eyebrow and replied blandly,

"I assure you I have nowhere I need to be today. So, why don't we start with the physical structure of this…Soul Society, and then move on to the people who run it?"

Stunned at the directness of his question, Rukia took a moment to observe the teen before her. Noticing the glint in his eyes that told her he meant business, she sighed and reluctantly began to talk. The only reason she felt comfortable revealing the workings of the afterlife to him was because he would be taking over her duties in the meantime, even if he didn't know it yet.

* * *

**Please leave a comment if you can. Thank you for taking the time to read and review my story.**


	2. Cutting Moon

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**AN: The premise for this story is a different Ichigo going through the events of the Bleach storyline. I aim to make him more cool headed, logical and just generally not a brash teen who rushes mindlessly into things. I would say that he would not become over powered, but then, in a world where beings redefine the landscape with the swing of a sword, what is overpowered? Anyway, BAMF Ichigo**

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo took in a deep breath of the cool night air as he sat on the roof of his family home. Back in his room, the Shinigami known as Kuchiki Rukia slept as she recuperated from the stress of the questions and answers session Ichigo had put her through. He had spent hours drilling her for information about the afterlife, and from what he had learned, he was highly intrigued.

The first thing he noticed was that Soul Society was obviously not as advanced as the human world was in general. It was to be expected, however, on account of the massive difference in life spans between humans and Shinigamis; for beings who lived for millennia, progress was something that happened over centuries, as opposed to the mere years over which humans made vast strides forward. Their relatively shorter life spans made humans much more eager to cram as much achievement as they could in the small duration of a century long life.

Still, the talk about the clear division between the Seireitei and the rest of the Soul Society made Ichigo somewhat uncomfortable. It seemed to him like the Gotei 13 had focused too much on battling hollows, and other enemies like Quincies, to the exclusion of the very souls they were sworn to protect; it was much akin to Santa Claus focusing so much on delivering presents that he had no time for the children themselves. The elitist mentality that most Shinigami had in comparison to the regular souls in the district bothered him greatly. Knowing that there wasn't much that he could do about the situation at the time, he put it from his mind and focused on the most interesting piece of knowledge he had recently gained; the Zanpakuto.

The concept of an eternal partner who was essentially the other half of his soul sounded quite fascinating to him. After thinking about it for a few moments, he ascertained that there was nothing stopping him from proceeding with his plan; it was the weekend and his father had planned some activities with his sisters…to have some father-daughter bonding time; cue shiver down spine.

Dispelling all distracting thoughts from his mind, Ichigo closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. With the ease of long practice, he smoothly slipped into a state of deep meditation. Having long since mastered himself – a prerequisite for mastering Tai Chi and Wushu, he was able to discover the new addition to his internal energies. Armed with the basic knowledge of reiatsu control from his talk with his Shinigami guest as well as knowledge of how to control the flow of one's internal energies, he seamlessly submerged himself in the flow of reiatsu within him. He was glad to note that the fact that he was in his human body did not seem to be interfering too much with his connection to his reiatsu.

Following the instructions provided by Kuchiki Rukia, he firmly took hold of his reiatsu and _pulled_.

With a spinning sensation he could only compare to being flushed down a toilet, he suddenly noticed that he could feel the sun on his face, as well as a cool day breeze ruffling his hair. With a small triumphant smile on his face, he gracefully rose to his feet and took in the breathtaking landscape before him.

The first thing his eyes noticed was the abundance of glass skyscrapers dotted all over the place. Yet, in addition to the presence of such buildings, there was an equal amount of gardens and orchards scattered amongst the buildings as well, creating a perfect counterbalance to the artificial structures. With the sun shining in the clear blue sky, the scenery could only be described as perfect.

From his position on the roof of one of the skyscrapers, Ichigo surveyed what could only be his inner world. Sensing someone standing behind him, he refrained from turning, entirely at ease with the presence of the newcomer. With a slightly awed murmur, he spoke,

"It's beautiful."

The newcomer responded in a smooth baritone that went into Ichigo's ears like vintage wine,

"Indeed, it is beautiful."

Slowly turning around, Ichigo finally came face to face with the other occupant of his soul. Standing easily above six feet, the handsome middle aged man before him was clad in a flowing black coat that had red highlights. Underneath the coat, he wore a white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, in addition to black dress pants and boots. His hair was a ragged black neck long elegant mess with brown highlights. With his pale skin, high cheekbones and stubble, he cut a striking and regal figure, one whose identity Ichigo couldn't possibly have been more sure of.

Completely aware of his wielder's scrutiny, the zanpakuto spirit took the opportunity to do the same in return. He immediately noticed that Ichigo was dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, and not in the shihakusho he expected; probably a result of him entering his inner world while in his human body. Considering the fact that he was born of Ichigo's soul, he could say that he knew Ichigo, yet at the same time, he knew that he didn't know him at all. It was much like studying an artist's best painting. Through observing his use of colors and the nature of his brush strokes, the subject of his vision and his method of presenting that vision to the world, one could learn so much about the artist who created the piece of art – could learn how said artist perceives the world around him. Yet, at the same time, meeting the artist in person is a whole new experience, filled with learning new things about him that you never knew. This was the position in which the zanpakuto spirit currently found himself; meeting Ichigo in person and getting to know him would provide a whole other insight into the nature of his wielder.

Finally finished with his observation of his companion, Ichigo turned back to face the scenery before him. For the first time, he took more time to notice that his inner world was arranged in a circular fashion; much like concentric rings. The outermost ring was made up of tall trees with lush green leaves, forming a sort of boundary beyond which was indiscernible whiteness. Immediately before the ring of trees was the middle layer, composed of moderate to extremely tall skyscrapers made of perfectly reflective blue glass, all spaced at regular intervals. In the spaces between the buildings, there were gardens and orchards containing a variety of trees and plants, as well as ponds and streams. Then finally, there was the innermost ring; located in it was the tallest of the skyscrapers, the very skyscraper upon which Ichigo and his companion currently stood.

Ichigo cast a thoughtful look at his companion standing before him, before he turned and leapt from the edge of the building. An excited smile spread across his face as he found himself, not plummeting to his death as he would in the real world but, sailing effortlessly through the air. He landed on the side of one of the shorter buildings and immediately kicked off to continue towards his final destination – the biggest garden in his range of vision, which also had a stream flowing through its center.

On silent feet, he lightly landed at his target, hearing the telltale flapping of cloth in the wind that indicated that his companion had easily kept up with him. Satisfied that his theory about him having more control of himself inside his inner world was proven true, Ichigo took off his shoes and made his way towards a large rock that was conveniently located next to the clear stream.

Knowing that his companion was following him, Ichigo sat in a meditative pose on top of the rock, making sure to leave enough space for the other man to sit as well. Ichigo took in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then smoothly exhaled. He repeated the action a few more times before finally trying to reach for the well of energy inside him again.

He had to fight from twitching when, like an overeager puppy, his reiatsu suddenly leapt at him. Immediately, he took a firm hold of it and began to smoothen it out, fighting to keep it from exploding out of him like it wanted to. Slowly, deftly, he regained control of his energy, and it was only then that he finally felt the gradually dying breeze. His eyes snapped open and he saw that the stream was only just returning to its smooth flow, and that there were numerous leaves strew about the place. His brows furrowed in confusion, before he decidedly reached for his reiatsu again, while keeping his eyes open. Immediately, he picked up on the rapid increase in wind speed as well as the sudden increase in the velocity of the stream before him. Slowly reducing the amount of reiatsu being released, he observed as its effects on the environment gradually lessened as well.

Shaking off his fascination with his new discovery, Ichigo aimed a slightly sheepish look at his companion, who he had been ignoring in light of the exciting new find. Instead of an annoyed look he might have otherwise gotten from anyone else, he was greeted with a small harmlessly amused smile, indicating that his silent companion did not mind his sudden occupation. Glad that he hadn't angered his new friend, he resettled in his pose and firmly grasped his internal energy, pleased with how easy it was here as compared to when he was in the outside world. Slowly letting it out, while keeping it calm and even, he felt a light breeze on his skin, nothing like the powerful wind that had surged forth earlier. Confident that he could maintain the same degree of calmness, he began to speak,

"This place reminds me of a park we used to visit…back when…back when my mother was still alive."

Ichigo's mouth twisted into a faint frown when he felt the usual twinge in his chest that accompanied any mention of his mother's death. The light behind his eyelids darkened a little and he opened his eyes to see clouds gathered in the sky…clouds that had not been there before. In his confusion at the sudden phenomenon, his feelings of loss slipped away from his mind and suddenly, the clouds cleared away as though they had never been. Blinking at the now clear sky for a few seconds, he let loose a sound of realization when he understood what had just happened. He wondered if he could pick the conversation back up, that is, if he even wanted to. Still, he reasoned to himself, if he couldn't talk to a manifestation of a part of his soul, who could he talk to?

Ichigo's black clad companion calmly observed his wielder as he spoke about his memories of such a garden. He quickly noticed the sudden gathering of clouds in the sky and, for a moment, he worried about the possibility of rain. Yet, almost as quickly as they had come, the clouds vanished into nothingness, freeing up the skies for the sun to shine brightly again. Turning his gaze back to his wielder, he was just in time to see a dawning look of realization cross his face. Knowing what wounds lay underneath the topic, he chose to speak up,

"This place has not always existed."

Noting the attentive gaze of his wielder, he continued,

"It used to be only buildings, magnificent buildings, but nothing else. Then one day, the sky was swallowed up in darkened clouds, and the rain fell…for three days and three nights, the heavens wept."

Ichigo lowered his gaze when he remembered those days of feeling lost, like a little boat lost in a turbulent storm, without the safe harbor that had been his mother. Before he could continue with his thoughts, his companion continued speaking and he immediately noticed a slight change in his usual stoic tone; it was almost…_amazed_,

"And then, the clouds suddenly cleared, the sun shone brighter than it ever had, the air was cool and clean, and one day, the first green thing began to grow. Day by day, inch by inch, the trees grew to rival the buildings, the plants grew fresh and healthy, and then the streams flowed clean and clear. This place has not always existed as you see it, but now, I am happy that it does."

Ichigo gained a small smile at the words of his stoic companion. Slowly, he began to understand what his inner world meant; what the various elements that made it up represented about him. Just as he was about to return to his meditation, something that his companion had said suddenly leapt to the forefront of his mind. His back straightening in dawning realization, he spoke,

"Wait…you said that it used to be only buildings. You make it sound like you've been here for years…"

His zanpakuto spirit allowed his pleased smile to show on his face at the perceptiveness of his wielder. With a nod, he confirmed Ichigo's statement, as well as confirmed his suspicions.

Stunned, Ichigo considered the implications of having had a zanpakuto spirit for years…probably since his birth. A cold sensation trailed down his spine when he began to think about the various things that happened around him. At the time, he had just taken the fact that he could see spirits in stride, but now, he was not so dismissive. Wondering which of his parents could have been the one he inherited his powers from, his mind alighted on his mother.

He easily ignored the pain that was associated with that memory and recalled the little details of that day. He vaguely remembered his mother shouting after him…_as though she could see that something was wrong_. His lessons in meditation had forced him to revisit that memory and deal with some of the pain that it held. As such, he knew that his mother had been murdered by something not human; something he now knew had been a hollow. And from what he had just learned, his mum had been able to see it. Yet, she had been unable to fight it off, so that cast doubt on his idea of her having been the shinigami.

As though his recent shocks were not enough, he suddenly realized that his mother had been Kurosaki Masaki, _before_ _she had married Isshin._ Almost afraid of following that thought to its logical conclusion, he began to think about what he had learnt from the Shinigami currently asleep in his room; Soul Society generally frowned upon human-Shinigami relations, meaning that for it to happen, the Shinigami would have to disappear. Given the disparate levels of development between the two worlds, something as simple as changing ones name and suppressing one's reiatsu could go a long way in hiding one from the afterlife. Unable to deny the plausibility of his thoughts, Ichigo finally allowed himself to accept the possibility that his father was a Shinigami. Funny enough, the thing that cinched it for him was the thought that _a normal guy wouldn't survive things like falling out of his son's window every morning without so much as a scratch_.

He turned his befuddled gaze to find the amused and silently laughing eyes of his companion, causing him to mock scowl at the teasing glint in the older man's eyes. Finally giving up, he let out the smile that was fighting to show on his own face. Somehow, he found that he wasn't mad at his dad for possibly keeping such a thing from him; it was his business and he would wait for his dad to tell him, if he wanted to.

Satisfied at partly resolving a very important part of his past, he resettled on the rock, effortlessly slipping back into his meditation. Still being aware of his surroundings, he somehow felt the gaze of his companion on his face. Opening one eye, he cast a curious look back at the older man.

The black clad figure paused for a moment, wondering how to phrase his request. Deciding to just go ahead with it, he spoke in his usual calm and even baritone,

"If you feel up to it, I would like to hear about your mother."

Though Ichigo only twitched at his companion's request, clouds rapidly began to gather in the skies above them, swiftly blotting out the sun and casting the land into shadows. Ichigo forced himself to take in a deep breath, and hold it for a few seconds before releasing it. Immediately, the rate of appearance of the clouds slowly reduced, until no new clouds were being formed. After giving it some thought, grateful for the solid patience of his companion, Ichigo began to speak,

"Her name was Kurosaki Masaki, and…she was the most loving person I have ever known."

Slowly, with frequent pauses between sentences, Ichigo began to talk about his mother, relieving the wonderful memories that he had made with her. Neither of the two people present noticed the gradual clearing of the skies above them, as Ichigo slowly but surely dealt with the remaining pain associated with his mother's death; pain that, even with his training and meditations, he had been unable to let go of.

For what felt like hours, Ichigo reminisced about his mother, somehow being able to recall the memories of her with love and happiness, unmarred by the previously constant pain of bereavement.

As he listened to his wielder, the black clad zanpakuto spirit marveled at Ichigo's inherent fortitude; the ability to move forward when his entire world had been ground to a halt the day his mother died, to never stand still, and to never look back. He listened as, gradually, his wielder's voice became more lighthearted and just generally unburdened the longer he spoke about his mother. He didn't attempt to stop Ichigo when his talking about his mother smoothly transitioned into talking about his dad, his sisters, and even his friends. He was very eager to get to know his wielder, and so, he listened, and as time went on, he learned.

After what felt like hours, Ichigo finally stopped speaking, only then realizing that somewhere along the way, his previously silent companion had begun to contribute some words of his own, turning a previously one-way speech into a two-way conversation filled with sharing.

From Ichigo, the older man learned his ardent desire to always protect those who mattered to him, starting with his family, then his friends, and finally, any other innocent that needed his help. He learnt of Ichigo's lifelong goal to master himself, his emotions and his actions, to ensure that he didn't always just react brashly to any situation he found himself in. He listened as Ichigo described his lessons in two schools of unarmed combat, as well as meditation and Kendo. All in all, he was immensely pleased with his wielder's drive to always better himself.

On his part, Ichigo learned about his partner's hatred for overcast skies and rain, of his love for the gardens and for the sun. Being the perceptive teen that he was, in addition to his recent understanding of what the elements in his inner world meant, Ichigo was easily able to deduce what his companion was _really_ saying; that he hated it whenever anything happened to cause Ichigo to lose his drive, to despair and stop advancing day to day. He preferred it when Ichigo's sight was not clouded by fear or grief; when he was constantly striving to achieve his goals.

Gracefully rising to his feet, pleasantly noting that he lacked any lingering soreness that would have been normal after such a prolonged time in that pose, Ichigo turned to his now standing partner and said,

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but I think it is about time that I get back. I hope you don't mind if I visit again in the near future."

With a nearly regal incline of his head, the older man smoothly replied,

"I look forward to your next visit."

Ichigo smiled and was about to return to the outside world when the next words of his companion, spoken in a musing tone, halted him,

"You know who I am, of that I am sure, and yet you have not asked me for my name. Why, I wonder? Do you, perhaps, believe that you are not yet ready to know it?"

The smile that broke out across his wielder's face was not what he was expecting, nor was the amused chuckle. When Ichigo replied, he found his eyebrows rising, uncontrollable in the wake of his surprise,

"Not at all; I merely felt that it would be rude to ask for your name, before I had offered mine."

And before the older man could react to that statement, Ichigo smoothly raised his right hand and said,

"Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Kurosaki Ichigo."

Now with a bemused smile on his face, the older man gracefully accepted the offered hand and responded in kind.

"It's nice to meet you Ichigo. My name is _Zangetsu_."

Zangetsu interpreted the look in Ichigo's eyes to be that of surprise, and so, he prepared himself to explain to his wielder why he was unable to hear his name, somehow finding himself faintly disappointed that his wielder still couldn't hear him. Before he could begin however, Ichigo replied,

"It's nice to meet you…Zangetsu."

For a moment, Zangetsu was frozen in his state of shock, before he blinked and focused his gaze on the suddenly _too innocent_ face of his teenage wielder, just in time to see him gradually fade away from the inner world to return to the outside one. With a shake of his head, he wondered just why he had been surprised that Ichigo could hear his name; given their long session of sharing, he should have expected it.

Ichigo opened his eyes to the nighttime sky out in the real world. Without even moving, he could already tell that his body was somewhat sore after having spent hours in the same unmoving pose. While he was massaging his legs to get the blood flowing, he was thinking about what he had just learned about his father. He acknowledged that at this juncture, all he had were a series of coincidences that painted a suspicious picture; he would have to wait and be on the lookout for more clues. _Though_, he thought to himself, _it wouldn't really change anything either way._

Finally deeming himself capable of standing, he made his way back into his room to find that the Shinigami was still asleep, as she should be. Taking the chance offered, he performed a shorter variation of his usual katas, promising himself to do a longer sequence tomorrow in compensation. Once he finished, he cleaned up and, pulling an extra futon out of his closet, he laid down to sleep, slipping away into oblivion a few moments later.

* * *

Ichigo woke slowly, and blinking open his eyes, noticed that he was the only one in his room. Rising from his sleeping mat, he saw that his bed had been made by his formerly sleeping guest, and that a note had also been left behind, thanking him for his hospitality and implying a meeting sometime in the near future. Putting it out of his mind, Ichigo went about performing his usual morning rituals, absently thinking that the house was too quiet. When he finally made his way downstairs, he found a note stuck to the fridge, telling him that his father and sisters would be out for the most of the day as well. Not questioning the good fortune, yet still somehow suspecting that his dad had something to do with the sudden space he was being given, he set about warming and eating the breakfast Yuzu had kept for him, before leaving his home.

Ichigo finally crested the small hill a few miles from his home. He took a moment to appreciate the tranquil peace and beautiful scenery before him, feeling a surge of gratitude towards his first sensei for revealing this place to him. Suddenly, Ichigo became aware of barely detectable feelings of approval and contentment that were not his own. As though they had been waiting for him to notice, the moment he began to pay attention to the foreign feelings, they came across clearer, and with a start, he realized where they were coming form; without a doubt, the flavor of the feelings brought to mind his black clad companion, Zangetsu. The instant he made the connection, a stronger wave of approval flooded his senses, confirming his suspicions and leaving him feeling relaxed.

Deciding to get to the reason he had come to his usual training grounds, he moved to place the items he brought with him – a towel, some water bottles, and some bandages – at the base of the tree in the center of the small field. Stepping away, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. In his soul, he could feel the curiosity of his soul partner, which then turned to startled realization at what he did next. Reaching deep within himself, he grasped his reiatsu, and with a firm intent in mind, he gave a deft twisting pull and, suddenly, he was holding his sword in his hand.

Now that he was not fighting for his life, he took the time to fully study the blade. It was a magnificent sword, notably broader than the more conventional katana, and longer as well. As evidence had shown, it was also deadly sharp, strong and well balanced. He gave it a few swings to get his actual physical body used to its weight, noticing instantly that it was lighter than a sword its size had a right to be; now that he was in his physical body, he had expected the sword to seem heavier than it had been.

Shaking off his musings, he settled into a beginning stance for one of the more basic Kendo katas. With slow and graceful movements, he flowed through the motions and stances, acclimatizing to wielding the new blade. Slowly but surely, his movements became more fluid as he gradually moved from exploring the blade to moving with it, transforming it from a mere sword to an extension of his body. For hours, he practiced, a combination of graceful twirls and flowing strikes creating a deadly dance of steel. Being the brilliant student that he was, Ichigo had taken his learning of Kendo farther than the conventional dojo; mixing in movements learnt from Tai Chi and Wushu, his handling of the sword deviated enough from traditional Kendo that even his teacher had found himself blindsided by unexpected manoeuvers from time to time. Finally, with a smooth and powerful killing thrust, Ichigo's kata drew to a close.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Ichigo rehydrated himself using one of the bottles he had brought for such a reason. Appropriately recovered from his strenuous activity, he cast a thoughtful gaze at the sword he held in his hand, wondering if he had just been imagining what he felt during the katas. Shaking off the thought, he dropped to sit on the grass at his feet, placing the sword across his lap and preparing to reenter his inner world.

With a noticeably smoother transition than last time, he opened his eyes to the clear blue skies of his zanpakuto's domain. Sensing the presence behind him, he smoothly spun with a happy smile on his face to meet the equally pleased face of Zangetsu. Zangetsu, sensing that his wielder had something on his mind, aimed a vaguely inquisitive look at the orange haired teen before him. Feeling an oddly significant amount of anticipation, Ichigo answered his companion's unspoken question,

"I know we spent most of yesterday getting to know each other, and so I wanted to try something else today."

With Zangetsu watching on, Ichigo reached forward and _pulled_, his hand coming away with a spiritual manifestation of his sword. With a slightly dangerous smile on his face, he spoke up,

"My sensei always said that two people can learn more about each other when they cross swords."

With a mere incline of his head, Zangetsu's flowing cloak billowed to the side to reveal that his right hand was resting on the hilt of a replica of his sword planted on the ground at his feet. The slightly discordant feeling Ichigo had felt when he had been performing his kata earlier was suddenly more pronounced when he watched Zangetsu wield the same sword as him. Still, putting that thought aside for the moment, he smoothly shifted into an opening stance, noticing Zangetsu do the same.

At an unspoken signal, the two were off, and immediately, Ichigo noticed that his companion was extremely skilled with the blade – not surprising, consider that he was a sword spirit. After a few more exchanges, silver sang through the air and Ichigo pulled back, a thin line sliced into the front of his shirt. Without a moment's hesitation, he dove back in, launching a flurry of attacks at his sparring partner, with each attack gracefully and expertly deflected. He knew that Zangetsu was holding back and so he pushed onwards, determined to provide some measure of challenge to his companion.

At the start of the spar, Zangetsu was exhilarated that his wielder sought to learn about him by sparring with him, though his face showed nothing to indicate his feelings. At once, he noticed that Ichigo's moves were the crisp motions of learned katas, lacking the instinctual reactions gained through experiencing real battle; he did not blame his wielder for it was to be expected. Still, as they progressed, he saw that Ichigo understood that he was not yet at a level where he could match him, and yet, he did not retreat; he pressed on, even more determined, never hesitating, and never retreating. And as time went on, before his amazed eyes, his wielder slowly began to learn to interpret what the little movements of his body meant – to read his attack moments before it came and to instinctively shift to meet it. He wasn't perfect at it – that was to be expected – yet, that he was able to pick it up in such a short time and under such conditions was nothing short of incredible.

Slowly but surely, the amount of attacks getting through his defense reduced, until he was successfully parrying aside all the attacks Zangetsu launched at him. Despite that accomplishment, he did not become complacent, because he read in Zangetsu's languid pose an indication that he was holding back. And so, Ichigo did not rest on his laurels, he continually attacked and defended, and above all, he learned.

Zangetsu was once again amazed by his wielder's determination and drive, but above all, he was immensely proud. Though Ichigo was a panting mess of sweat, dirt, and blood, he still stood tall before him, ready for more. It was clear to him that his wielder's already impressive stamina had been doubled, tripled, even quadrupled by his recent access to his vast stores of reiatsu. So, where before he would have dropped after an hour of the rigorous spar, he was still sanding after four.

Still, Zangetsu lowered his sword, feeling it disperse with his intention to call the match to an end. Ichigo, seeing this, allowed his focus to drop from being on alert for an incoming attack. Only then did he allow himself to plop down in fatigue and pain from his injuries, and yet, despite how crappy he felt, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He saw an answering smile on Zangetsu's face, if a comparatively smaller one, and the sight caused him to finally break out into exhilarated laughter, paradoxically refreshed by the strenuous spar he had just had.

Finally having caught his breath, though the numerous cuts on his body continually stung when he moved, Ichigo remembered the feeling that had been bothering him. Casting his gaze down at the sword currently lying next to him, he wondered. Zangetsu, noticing his wielder's preoccupation, prompted,

"Is something the matter, Ichigo?"

Startled out of his contemplation, Ichigo raised his eyes to meet the expectant gaze of his companion. Trusting in the other man not to misunderstand him, and yet still worried that he might end up offending the older man, he softly spoke

"This sword...does not feel like it is mine."

Bracing himself for some negative reaction from his seeming rejection, he was completely unprepared for the blinding – for Zangetsu anyway – smile of approval that appeared on his companion's face, quickly followed by his proud and pleased baritone,

"So you've noticed it. I had wondered if you would."

Relieved that he had not inadvertently offended Zangetsu, Ichigo continued,

"Well, to be honest, I felt that there was something off the first time I held this sword. At the time however, I reasoned that it was simply because it was a product of powers not inherently my own. However, yesterday, you helped me realize that I had been born with Shinigami powers and as such, had possessed a zanpakuto spirit of my own – you. Now that you have confirmed my suspicions, I can only conclude that Kuchiki Rukia's reiatsu not only awoken my own, but also influenced my Shinigami powers."

Zangetsu found himself fighting the urge to break out into applause at Ichigo's keen insight; he instead settled for expressing his pride and approval in his voice,

"Truly, I could not have asked for a better wielder than you."

Choosing not to comment on Ichigo's faint blush, Zangetsu began to explain the exact side effects of gaining Rukia's Shinigami powers.

"Normally, when a Shinigami transfers their Shinigami powers to a human soul, it is temporary, allowing that human soul to perform supernatural feats – like slaying a hollow – for a short period of time before it disperses from their soul. In your case however, the injection of foreign reiatsu forced your own dormant powers to awaken. In that situation, instead of gradually fading away, Kuchiki Rukia's powers clung to your own powers, influencing the way they expressed themselves. That is why, no matter how much you learn to control your own reiatsu, the extra reiatsu from Kuchiki Rukia will always be felt by anyone with the senses to do so, making it seem as though you have terrible control of your reiatsu. Furthermore, as you know, the size of a zanpakuto is dependent on the amount of reiatsu being constantly passed through it; the sword you currently wield will never assume a smaller shape until you are free of the foreign reiatsu. However, now that you have gotten in touch with me, and heard my name, I can set about gradually removing the influence of her powers until all that is left is solely yours."

Maybe once upon a time, Ichigo would have immediately jumped at the chance to wholly use his own powers, but he was not that brash child anymore. He thought about the situation for some time, grateful for his ever steady companion's infinite patience, before reaching a decision,

"I think for now, it would be best if we didn't hasten the disappearance of my foreign powers. From what Rukia told me, Soul Society considers it a serious offense for a Shinigami to have relations with a human, and now that she has seen what my sword looks like, having it change will raise questions that might reveal my dad's true nature and bring the wrath of the afterlife down on our heads. From what I understand, Rukia's actions would be severely frowned upon when they discovered, meaning that I will come under scrutiny sooner or later. I think, for now, that it is best if others see only what they expect to see."

After a few seconds digesting what his wielder had just said, Zangetsu inclined his head in acceptance of his reasoning. Though he did not like being overshadowed by another's reiatsu, he acknowledged that in this case, discretion was the better part of valor. He immediately refocused on Ichigo when he realized that he had resumed speaking,

"Still, that does not mean that I should not practice using my true zanpakuto. If there is a way for me to access your real form in here without affecting what you would look like outside, that would be very helpful."

With a nod of his head, Zangetsu replied that he would see what he could do. The two of them then spent a few minutes discussing Ichigo's performance, with Zangetsu pointing out whatever areas he needed improvement in. Ichigo graciously accepted the criticism and made mental notes to address those issues before their next sparring session – for it was an unspoken agreement between them that such spars would become regular things.

Once their discussion wound to a close, Ichigo prepared to return to the outside world, but a fleeting thought had him pausing, once again garnering Zangetsu's attention. Without prompting, Ichigo spoke slowly, trying to put together the vague thought he had just had,

"Rukia mentioned that reiatsu is primarily a measure of one's experiences, suggesting that the more one did with it, the more it increased in amount and potency; hence the reason why older Shinigami were generally stronger than the younger ones."

Seeing Zangetsu nod, he finally realized why that thought had seemed important to him,

"Rukia is about ten times my age and I have portions of her reiatsu inside me. She has gone through formal instruction in the Shinigami Academy and spent decades more as an active Shinigami, I'm sure there is much we can learn from her _experiences_."

Pleased with the flash of interest he easily saw in Zangetsu's eyes, Ichigo smiled as he faded from his inner world, leaving his companion to ponder the validity of his suggestion and how to go about implementing it.

Ichigo winced when his eyes opened in the real world; some of his wounds had transferred to his actual physical body, though less serious versions of them. Gingerly, he used the left over water to clean his wounds, before applying the bandages that he had brought along. With that done, he packed up his belongings and turned to return home. After a few steps, he stopped in silent contemplation. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, he reached for a tiny amount of his potent reiatsu, and began siphoning it into his body. Once he was satisfied that he had a firm hold of it, he glanced at his watch, and then he took off running back towards his home.

The difference was immediately obvious.

With the wind whipping in his face, Ichigo blazed across the ground, muscles functioning at far above their usual peak efficiency; propelling him so fast that to an untrained eye, he would appear as an indistinguishable blur. Ichigo cut off the flow of reiatsu the moment he reached the bottom of the hill, causing himself to stumble at the sudden loss of speed. He looked at his watch and blinked once he realized that he had covered the distance in a few seconds; it usually took him two minutes to get down the hill while running.

Ichigo was of the opinion that if he managed to learn to use his reiatsu in his physical body, then his soul would be that much stronger for it; hence his motivation to learn how to summon and use his sword, as well as augment his muscles with reiatsu.

Siphoning off a slightly larger amount of reiatsu and flooding his muscles with the power, he took off again, noticeably faster than before, with an exhilarated grin on his face.

* * *

**I feel that I should reiterate and explain some things. First off, there will be no pairings, that hasn't changed. Also, I hope this chapter has shown that I intend to change Ichigo's usual relationship with Zanpakuto. I have always been dissatisfied with the way those two interacted…I mean, if you stop to think about it, a zanpakuto is essentially a soulmate…Yes, take a moment to take that in…soulmate. That said, I want them to be much closer, which will of course go a long way in making Ichigo much stronger. **

**Please leave a comment if you can. Thank you for taking the time to read and review my story.**


	3. Big Brother

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**AN: The premise for this story is a different Ichigo going through the events of the Bleach storyline. I aim to make him more cool headed, logical and just generally not a brash teen that rushes mindlessly into things. I would say that he would not become over powered, but then, in a world where beings redefine the landscape with the swing of a sword, what is overpowered? Anyway, BAMF Ichigo**

**Note: Contrary to some people's messages, I am not ignorant of who Tite Kubo says Zangetsu is...I just choose to willfully ignore it.**

* * *

Ichigo sighed as his ears picked up the quickly approaching steps of his man-child of a father. He smoothly got off the bed and, after a few moments consideration, turned and slid his window closed. Standing in front of his bed, he prepared himself for a usual morning in the Kurosaki household.

Isshin kicked open his son's door and rushed inside. He was already executing a flying kick when he registered the fact that Ichigo had been lying in wait for him, with an unreadable look in his eyes. In a graceful twirl, his son spun away from his assault, leaving him to sail uninterruptedly out of his window...as usual. He only just noticed that the window had in fact been closed when his body broke through the pane of glass. With a startled yelp at the unexpected obstruction, he went crashing down to the unforgiving ground in a shower of broken glass.

Ichigo glanced out his window to see his father moaning in pain on the floor, and yet his sharp eyes easily noted the lack of cuts or injuries on his body, which one might expect after going through a pane of glass. With a faint smirk on his lips, he turned to leave his room, intending to perform his usual morning rituals in preparation for school.

* * *

Ichigo hesitated momentarily as he entered his classroom, the hitch in his stride too short for anyone present to notice. Without giving anything away, he continued on to his desk, and as he sat down, his eyes flickered in the direction of a black-haired slim student seating somewhere in front of him. He refocused on his surroundings once he felt the presence of Inoue next to his desk, sparing a moment to think, _that is...Ishida Uryuu, if I recall correctly...interesting_.

"Morning, Ichigo."

Turning, Ichigo returned Tatsuki's greeting, as well as Inoue's and Chad's after that. The niceties out of the way, Tatsuki said,

"Ichigo, I passed by your house earlier and saw a big hole in your wall..."

Trailing off in obvious question, Tatsuki waited for Ichigo to elaborate, while Chad and Inoue focused in on him in interest as well.

With a shrug, Ichigo fed them the story of a runaway truck, allaying their fears about the wellbeing of his family; mentioning that they suffered slight bruises at worst.

All talking in the classroom suddenly ceased once the teacher strolled in to begin Homeroom. However, excited whispers broke out as soon as the teens noticed another shorter figure trailing after their teacher. With a huff of exasperation, the teacher called them back to order and said,

"Class, I'd like you to meet Kuchiki Rukia-san. She is a new transfer, so please make her feel at home."

The petite brunette stepped forward and with a bow, she spoke to the rest of the class,

"Hello, my name is Kuchiki Rukia, pleased to meet you."

Immediately, most of the boys in the class began to whisper about the cute new transfer, while the girls talked about getting her alone to learn more about her. The teacher's voice brought them back to the matter at hand,

"Kuchiki-san, feel free to take the seat beside Kurosaki-san over there."

With a nod of her head, Rukia made her way to the desk beside Ichigo, all the while ignoring the attention of her new classmates. Once she got to his location, she plastered a fake smile on her face and extended her hand while saying,

"Hello, Kurosaki-san, nice to meet you."

Ichigo's gaze dropped to her hand where he noticed some writing, which read, _make a scene and I'll kill you_.

His eyes narrowed minutely after reading the message, before they gained an indifferent look in them. Giving no reaction whatsoever to reveal his inner thoughts, Ichigo turned back to face the front of the class, in time to hear the teacher call for the attention of the students.

_It was going to be a long day_.

Rukia observed the orange haired teen from the corner of her eye. After she had endured an extensive questioning from him, she had been too tired to do anything but rest. However, she remembered waking up a while later to find him asleep on a spare Futon. She had taken the chance to remove herself from his room and track down a certain annoying shopkeeper to facilitate her integration into the human world. Now, she watched the child who possessed her powers pay attention to his teacher, and wondered how she was going to explain to him that he would be taking over her duties..._unfailingly_.

The moment the bell for lunch went off, Keigo was out of his seat like a shot, sight fixed on his friend's orange hair, determined to get all the info Ichigo might have about the newcomer. He arrived at just about the same time as Chad, Inoue, and Tatsuki. But before any of them could speak, Ichigo said,

"Fancy running into you again, Kuchiki-san. I had no idea you would be attending school with us; I would have pegged you as too..._old_."

Rukia's eyes flashed at that last statement, but before she could tear into the calm looking teen before her, Keigo interrupted,

"You know her Ichigo? Why didn't you tell me, huh? You're trying to hoard all the girls to yourself...so greedy!"

With an amused look in Keio's direction, Ichigo responded,

"Not really, no; I met her two nights ago, when the truck ran into our house. She was a passerby who got slightly injured during the accident."

Inoue immediately began to fuss over Rukia, asking if she had fully recovered and telling her to feel free to ask if she needed anything. With a slightly uncomfortable smile at the attention, Rukia said,

"I'm fine, thank you, Orihime-san, though if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Kurosaki-san about something."

On that note, and with the rest of the gathered students watching on, Rukia took a hold of Ichigo and dragged him up to the roof, hoping to find some privacy there. Ignoring the whispers that followed them once students saw just whom it was that she was dragging along, Rukia cast a look back at Ichigo to find a vastly amused look on his face; somehow, she got the impression that he was just humoring her.

A few feet from their destination, Ichigo _stopped_, causing Rukia to stumble backwards and almost fall – if not for the steadying hand suddenly gripping her shoulder. Whirling around to question why he had just stopped, she abruptly stilled when she met his eyes.

Having grown up a Kuchiki, Rukia had long since learned to read any situation she found herself in and subsequently take control of it, manipulating things to her benefit. It was a skill she wished she never needed, but one she was practical enough to know was necessary. She had initially thought that her decades of experience would give her an easy win with the teenager who was about a tenth her age, yet the look in his eyes told her that she had been dead wrong. The look in his eyes reminded her of her cold brother, and she just barely overcame the temptation to step back.

Satisfied that the Shinigami had gotten the message, Ichigo took his eyes off her and proceeded to lead the way to their destination.

Emerging onto the roof, he took a moment to take in the shining sun, feeling a hum of approval from his partner in the depths of his soul. Turning, he came to face Rukia, noting that she had taken the time to regain her composure – as indicated by her slightly raised chin when their eyes met. Stifling the smile that wanted to show at her display, he motioned for her to speak.

Squaring her shoulders and fixing him with her stern violet gaze, Rukia spoke in a serious tone,

"As I'm sure you recall from our talks, there are certain duties we Shinigami perform on a daily basis; duties which help to preserve the balance of three worlds. Now, since I don't have my powers at the moment, I expect you to take over said duties until such a time as I can return to them."

Silence greeted her statement – _demand _ – and she waited with bated breath for some sort of reaction. Already, she had begun to mentally prepare a host reasons to make him reconsider incase he responded negatively; she needn't have bothered.

With a slightly weary sigh, Ichigo said,

"I suppose it is only fair that I cover for you until you recover."

Seeing Rukia's look of surprise melt into a smile, he continued before she got carried away with herself.

"There are, of course, conditions that must be met for me to completely agree to your request. First off, you will never lie to me if I ask you a question. I understand that there will be things that you might be unable to tell me, either because they are personal or because they are not yours to tell. However, if that were the case, I expect you tell me plainly that the subject is personal, or is not yours to talk about. I will extend the same courtesy to you in return."

Waiting for her to mull over his words, he accepted her nod as agreement and proceeded with his second condition,

"I will approach my new Shinigami duties my own way. That is not say that I will not welcome advice from you – you have been doing this longer than I have after all. What I mean is that at the end of the day, the final call will be mine."

Rukia's narrowed eyes clearly expressed her thoughts about his second condition. This time, her nod, when it came, was noticeably more reluctant than it had been before. With a nod of his own, Ichigo prepared to give the final condition.

His eyebrows drew down in a chilling scowl, and his eyes flashed an arctic blue as he subconsciously tapped into his reiatsu. When he spoke, the very air in Rukia's lungs stilled in fear at how _lethal_ the teenager before her sounded,

"My final condition, and the most important of them all, is that my sisters, and friends, _will_ be kept away from anything to do with the afterlife, unless there is absolutely no choice in the matter. I will not have harm befalling them if I can help it – not from any hollows, and not from _you_."

Rukia shivered faintly when she saw the promise of deadly violence in Ichigo's eyes. She could do nothing but nod in agreement to that last request, much too fearful to risk incurring the teen's wrath.

Seeing her acceptance, Ichigo blinked, and just like that, everything was back to normal, leaving Rukia startled at the abrupt change.

Taking a moment to compose herself, Rukia turned back to face Ichigo just in time to hear his question,

"The fact that my classmates can interact with you suggests that you were able to procure a..._gigai_, I believe was the term?"

Rukia nodded in response, vaguely recalling that she had mentioned gigais during her interrogation. Ichigo continued,

"In that case, can I correctly assume that you have settled the issue of your housing?"

Rukia twitched, and suddenly began hoping that Ichigo hadn't caught it, though the look in his eyes suggested that her prayers were for naught. Plastering on a fake smile on her face, she said in faux cheery tone,

"Ah, you need not worry about that; it's all been taken care of."

Ichigo's brows drew down slightly as a faint scowl took over his expression. He spoke up slowly, clearly enunciating his words for maximum effect,

"Kuchiki-san, giving that I will be substituting for you, don't you think that it is a good idea if I know where I can find you if the need ever arises? Unless, of course, you had planned to camp out in my house."

The last statement, spoken in jest, startled Rukia a bit, causing her eyes to widen and her cheeks to flush almost unnoticeably. Ichigo abruptly straightened as his gaze sharpened when he took in her reaction.

At this point, Rukia knew that her reaction had given her away and that any attempt to lie to the teen might backfire superbly. So, with a put upon sigh, she said,

"Yes, I was going to stay in your room; from what I remember, there was a closet there that would be sufficient for me."

During her explanation, Rukia refused to look at Ichigo, focusing instead on the school field located a ways away.

With an exasperated sigh, Ichigo said,

"And when did you plan on telling me this?"

Seeing her slight flinch, he sighed once more.

"Fine, But I will not have you sneaking in. I will introduce you to the rest of my family, I'm sure they will not mind your presence, though you will have to put up with my father."

Before she could ask for the meaning of that last statement, the door to the roof was flung open as Keigo and the rest of Ichigo's friends emerged onto the roof. With a mental note to be on guard when she met Kurosaki Isshin, Rukia moved forward at Ichigo's invitation to be properly introduced to his friends.

* * *

Since that day was one of the days when Isshin picked the girls from school, Ichigo had no qualms with following Rukia after she mentioned that she needed to pick up some supplies from somewhere. He had long since deduced that there must have been a Shinigami supplier in the vicinity after he learned that Rukia had procured a gigai in town. Following her, he answered whatever questions she had about the Living World, absently musing that – in some sense – Shinigami must live a relatively sheltered life.

Finally, they arrived at a little shop that read **Urahara Shouten** (Urahara Shop). With a soft knock, Rukia opened the door and stepped in, Ichigo following after her.

Suddenly, Ichigo's senses prickled and his eyes cut to a door, which then began to slide open. The moment his eyes landed on the green clothed figure standing in the doorway, he experienced a flashback to the day of his mother's funeral. Talking with Zangetsu had left him able to recall such memories without any of the pain usually associated with them, and so, this time around he was able to focus on other parts of the memory.

He vaguely remembered the blond newcomer before him, standing beside his father in the rain, as well as a white haired young man and a purple haired dark skinned lady. Though their features were hazy, he knew with certainty that the figure wearing the green and white getup, as well as ridiculous geta sandals, was the same man.

_Another piece of evidence to support my theory_

Ever the keen one, Kisuke did not miss Ichigo's pause and subsequent scrutiny, but he put it aside for the time and prepared to play the part of the annoyingly cheery shopkeeper. Whipping out his fan from places unseen, he called out while covering the lower half of his face,

"Kuchiki-san, and guest, what a pleasant surprise! I was not expecting you. Tell me, what can this humble shopkeeper do for you?"

Huffing at the man's eccentricities, Rukia motioned to Ichigo,

"This is Kurosaki Ichigo, and Ichigo, this is Urahara Kisuke."

Ichigo inclined his head to Kisuke, who responded in kind, interested glint visibly shining in his piercing grey eyes. Turning to face him, Rukia continued,

"I need one of those gloves you showed me before, as well as my things, which I left here this morning."

Fluttering his fan in front of his face, Kisuke beamed out,

"Of course, Kuchiki-san."

Without warning, the door to the side of the three people slid open, allowing in a towering dark skinned man with dreadlocks, in whose hands was a suitcase, as well as a red glove with an emblem of a skull.

Rukia accepted the items from the newcomer with a grateful bow of her head, and then turned to leave, motioning for Ichigo to follow. With one last thoughtful look thrown at the blond before him, Ichigo followed Rukia out as Kisuke's cheery voice floated out after them,

"Be sure to stop by next time you need something, I'll even throw in a discount for you two."

His intelligent grey eyes trailed the two as they finally left the shop, before his hand came up to drag his hat down to shade his eyes. _Interesting son you have there, Isshin_.

* * *

A few minutes after leaving the shop, Ichigo and Rukia were walking through the park on the way to Ichigo's home. Rukia was explaining the use of the glove in her hand, as well as the detector in her phone, which would warn them of any hollow presence in the vicinity. Just as she was preparing to put it back in her pocket, Ichigo's senses went on alert and he turned just in time to see a young girl emerge from the tree line, panting and scuffed up.

She had a chain sticking out of her chest.

Rukia's hand was already sliding into the glove as the phone began to let out a beep. Without waiting for Ichigo to turn to face her, her hand plunged into his back, forcing his soul out of his body.

Ichigo didn't even stumble as he was ejected out of his human body, he was already blurring across the ground towards the stumbling child.

He was a few steps away from her when her head came up and she saw the approaching orange haired black clad figure, frightening scowl on his face, and right hand already reaching for the huge sword on his back. She squeaked in fear and dropped to her knees in preparation for an attack that never came. A shadow passing over her made her glance up to find that the scary teen had jumped moments before hitting her, targeting something behind her. She spun around just in time to watch him remove the two front limbs of the spider-like monster that had chased her so far.

Rukia's brows furrowed as she observed Ichigo dash towards the panting plus soul. She was confused because her senses were telling her that Ichigo had grown more powerful since the last time she had seen him in his Shinigami garb. Finally, after a few more moments of contemplation, she dismissed the thought as ludicrous. _Obviously_, she thought, _I wasn't paying proper attention at the time since I was injured_. Refocusing on the here and now, she immediately ran forward to tend to the poor child and get her out of harm's way.

Ichigo landed smoothly and spun to face the screeching form of the spider hollow. He hefted his blade and fluidly moved to reengage his foe. Ducking under a retaliatory strike from the wounded monster, he struck out and removed the offending limb before it could be retracted.

Now missing three legs, the hollow roared in pain moments before it shifted its weight in preparation for another attack, forgetting to compensate for the loss of limbs. With no forewarning, the hollow overbalanced and wavered in the air for a moment of weakness.

Ichigo ruthlessly capitalized on it.

Seeing his enemy focused on regaining its balance, Ichigo jumped towards its face, wasting no time in cleaving its head into two, purifying the tortured soul and rescuing its intended prey.

Landing gracefully on his feet, he turned to search for the girl and found her being comforted by Rukia. Plastering on a smile that he usually reserved for his little sisters, Ichigo slowly approached the duo, ignoring Rukia's startled look at his suddenly gentle countenance. Long experience had him bracing for impact just as the child flung herself at him, crying in relief and thanking him for saving her. He spent a few moments getting her to calm down before finally moving to send her onwards. He listened to Rukia's instructions about performing **Konsou** (Soul Burial), and then gently performed the rite on the smiling child, answering smile on his own face.

Paying no heed to Rukia's teasing smile at how gentle he was with the little girl, he moved forward to return to his body, despairing at the dirt on his person caused by his haste to cleanse the hollow. He mentally vowed to find a better way to exit his body without leaving it to flop down in a mess.

Getting back to his feet, now in his body, Ichigo turned to resume the journey home, still blatantly ignoring Rukia's attempts to tease him.

* * *

Rukia watched as Ichigo opened the door to his home and entered first. She was just about to follow after him when she noticed a quickly approaching white clad figure. She gaped in stunned confusion as she witnessed Ichigo fend off attacks from – who was without a doubt – his father. Ichigo, obviously getting tired of the man's actions, executed a deft _ducking twisting spinning kick_ that resulted in Isshin's face impacting the wall beside him.

As the groaning lump of pain that was his dad slumped to the floor, Ichigo casually stepped over his twitching form to receive the welcome greetings of his two sisters.

With that out of the way, he turned to face Rukia, causing Karin and Yuzu to take notice of her presence, and said,

"This is Kuchiki Rukia. If it's alright with you, she'll be staying with us for some time."

At the mention of her name, Isshin twitched minutely, an action caught by Ichigo's sharp gaze.

Ichigo did not even bat an eyelid when Isshin was suddenly standing in front of the very startled Rukia, poking and prodding her relentlessly. He promptly abandoned her to his _tender _mercies and turned a questioning look on his two sisters. Karin's indifferent shrug and Yuzu's beaming smile were all the answers he needed. With a nod of his head, he ascended the stairs to his room, intending to change out of his school clothes and settle in before dinner.

Rukia finally managed to extract herself from the evil clutches of the man-child downstairs, fleeing to Ichigo's room with shouted things like "Come back new daughter! Daddy wants a hug!" chasing her as she escaped.

She finally burst into Ichigo's room and slammed the door behind her, taking a moment to let her heart stop racing. She glanced at Ichigo to find him placidly looking back at her, with the amusement in his eyes the only sign that he had enjoyed what had happened to her. Huffing at the orange haired teen, she moved forward to take a seat at the desk in his room, finally taking the time to observe his room.

It was surprisingly clean for a teenage boy, though she somehow found herself unsurprised by that revelation. After she had looked her fill, she turned back to Ichigo, wondering what would happen next. She needn't have worried because Yuzu's voice suddenly rang out, calling them to dinner.

She followed Ichigo downstairs and took a seat beside him, facing his black haired sister. The rest of the family promptly seated themselves as well, with Isshin taking the head of the table for the first since Masaki had died.

During the meal, Ichigo subtly observed his dad, watching for any reaction on his face that would give away his knowledge of who Rukia really was.

He found none.

Similarly, Rukia acted as though she had no idea that Isshin was more than he appeared and he was grateful that he hadn't made a mistake in bringing her to his house; he worried that his actions would have revealed Isshin to Soul Society.

As soon as the meal was finished, Ichigo ushered his sisters and Rukia upstairs, telling Karin and Yuzu to check if they had clothes they could spare for Rukia; he and Isshin would handle the dishes. Dragging his protesting father by the collar, he entered the kitchen, plates balanced in his free hand.

Isshin finally relented and joined him in washing the dishes, surprisingly quiet for once.

Ichigo was not oblivious to the looks his father threw at him at regular intervals; he just chose to ignore them. It was obvious to him that Isshin had realized that Ichigo wanted to talk to him about something important. Why else would he actively seek to be alone with his crazy dad?

Still, he worried about how to broach the topic he wanted to discuss with his father; dilly-dallying for so long that he finished washing the dishes. Finally, he felt a wave of assurance originating from the depths of his soul, banishing his fears and reminding him – _Never hesitate, never retreat_.

Deciding not to draw it out, Ichigo began,

"So, I'm guessing, from her lack of reaction, that Rukia was not in your division before you left Soul Society?"

Isshin's hand froze in the process of putting the last clean dish back in the rack, his suddenly numb fingers only just managing not to let it slip and shatter on the floor.

Automatically, a goofy smile spread across his face and his mouth opened to boisterously deflect Ichigo's question, but one glance at his son's serious eyes caused his breath to catch in his throat and the smile to slowly slip off his face.

With a weary and resigned sigh, Isshin placed the last of the dishes in its place and turned to speak to his son, the only thing running through his mind was: _How did he figure it out?...Kisuke? No, he wouldn't have told him_.

However, before Isshin could speak, Ichigo continued,

"You don't owe me any explanations. I will wait for you to tell me if you want to, and only when you want to. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't causing you any problems by bringing her here."

Now certain that his son knew his secret, Isshin prepared to deal with the anger and hate Ichigo must be feeling because Isshin hadn't been able to save Masaki.

Suddenly, Ichigo's gaze, which had been focused on Isshin throughout his speech, shifted to the side, zeroing in on the wall behind his dad, while a very faint flush crept in a line across his face. His next words were spoken at such a low volume that Isshin had to concentrate to hear them...and he was glad that he did,

"Also, I figured that there must be a reason why you don't use your Shinigami powers...why you didn't use them on _that night_."

Not daring to hope, Isshin waited for Ichigo to continue speaking, wondering if it was indeed possible that his son did not blame him, even when Isshin blamed himself.

"I remember how you looked when you told me what had happened, and I don't think its your fault that mom died. I know that you beat yourself up over it, and now I understand why, but you are the one who told me not to blame myself, so you don't get the right to do it to yourself. I know that the only reason you didn't save her that night was because you couldn't; nothing else would have stopped you from intervening if you could. So, even though you have this secret, it doesn't change the fact that I know you loved..._love_...mom, and that I...that...that you're still _my dad_."

Isshin's jaw clenched fiercely as his eyes gained a suspicious shine in them at Ichigo's heartfelt words. Unable to help himself, he reached out to hug his son for the first time in years, surprised when Ichigo didn't punch him like he usually did, but instead, returned the hug just as strongly. With his arms fiercely hugging the teen, Isshin murmured,

"I am so proud of you Ichigo...my son, always have been, and always will be...thank you...thank you for understanding."

Isshin finally disengaged from him and, after casting him a thoughtful look, muttered a _wait here_ and promptly vanished.

Ichigo blinked in surprise at his dad's sudden disappearance, but he didn't have to wait for long – though he did take the time to fully regain his composure.

Isshin came back downstairs clutching a moderately sized box in his two hands, stopping to motion Ichigo into the dining room before following after him. He placed the box on the table and, with a flourish, he flung open the lid, revealing a few old books, some scrolls, and other odds and ends.

Perplexed at what he was seeing, Ichigo reached in to pick up one of the books sitting before him. Blowing off the little bit of dust on it, he peered at the title and promptly gaped in shock.

It read: _Introduction to Reiatsu Control_.

Slowly, he turned his eyes up to look at his dad and received a smug look in return. Isshin then spoke up,

"It isn't much, and I don't really know why I hung onto them for so long, but there are a few instruction manuals and books there, as well as some mementos from my time in the Spiritual Arts Academy and as Captain of the Tenth Division."

Ichigo's already wide eyes widened even further and he stuttered out,

"Wait...what...Captain?"

Blinking at that, Isshin suddenly realized that Ichigo might not have known that he had been a captain; he might have thought him just a regular Shinigami. With furrowed brows, he asked,

"Wait, you didn't know? Then, why did you ask about her being in my division?"

Finally getting a hold of himself, Ichigo sighed,

"I just thought that you were a Shinigami who defected and then met mom. It seemed too unlikely that Soul Society would just let a Captain vanish without a trace...unless you faked your death of course."

Smirking mysteriously at his son, Isshin refrained from responding. Instead, he placed the removed book back into the box and shut it. Leaving it sitting in front of his son, he began to make his way to bed, stopping to pat Ichigo on the shoulder and to leave him to take in all the recent revelations. Just before he passed out of sight, he spun and shouted in a voice so clear that people next door must have heard him.

"Make sure to use protection, Ichigo!"

And then he promptly ducked out of the way, narrowly dodging the eating knife that embedded itself in the wall where his head had been a scant few seconds before. Laughing uproariously, he finally made his way to his bedroom to end the day, thinking along the way: _You must be so proud of him...huh... Masaki?_

Ichigo finally stood and gathered the box to take it to his room, mind already whirring with thoughts of where to hide it so that Rukia would never see its contents.

Ichigo did not trust the Shinigami enough to let her glimpse a secret so important to his family as a whole. He knew the views held by the Soul Society on such matters, and he also knew that as a Kuchiki noble, Rukia would probably observe the laws more strictly. He had long since decided that it would be in his best interest if he gave her no reason to think that there was more to him than met the eye. That meant that she could never know that he had gotten in touch with his own Zanpakuto, or that he had access to the knowledge contained in the books he had just received.

As far as he was concerned, there were only two possible ways things could go: Either Rukia eventually gained his trust, at which point he might share some things with her – things which she would then be forced to keep from Soul Society which would want to learn everything that she had, or she would choose Soul Society over him when the time came, in which case they would consider him more of a threat and be more severe in their reaction. Regardless of which ended up being true, it was best for all involved if he played his cards close to his chest.

Ichigo entered his room to find that Rukia was nowhere in sight, but he could pick up the faint sounds of keystrokes emanating from his cupboard. Taking the chance to stash his box without her noticing, he hid the box under his bed in the meantime, arranging his beddings to make things seem undisturbed. Turning, he stepped up to the cupboard and knocked. It slid open to reveal Rukia clad in one of Yuzu's sleeping wears, lying in the upper section of his closet. Ichigo asked,

"Comfortable in there?"

Rukia nodded, and then promptly slid the door back closed.

Blinking at her actions, he shook his head but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Returning to his bed, he withdrew the box and removed the introductory book on reiatsu control, as well as an introduction to one of the four main spiritual arts – **Hohou** (High Speed Movement).

Sensing that Zangetsu was paying attention to what he was about to do, Ichigo settled down to study the two books, glad that they were relatively thin books and would not take him too long to read through.

Within the first few minutes of reading the reiatsu manual, it was painfully obvious that Ichigo already had it down pat. Indeed, he had already begun to adapt most of his mediation exercises from his martial arts to handle the sudden onset of his reiatsu; exercises which the book listed as basics of reiatsu control. He was glad that he had already learned the basics and could progress with more challenging exercises. The book mentioned that once the basics were mastered – culminating in the Shinigami finally succeeding at **Jinzen** (Sword Meditation), the next steps were to begin actively utilizing the reiatsu for things like **Kidou** (Demon Arts) and **Hohou**. It claimed that the more one used their reiatsu, the more their reiatsu grew in sheer amount and potency, while also ensuring that they grew more familiar with their power and gained better control of it.

A half hour later, he was putting the first book aside and reaching for the second, eager to find out about what kind of high-speed movements he could learn. He was momentarily disappointed once he realized, a few pages in, that the only technique available to most Shinigami was **Shunpo** (Flash Step). Before his disappointed feelings could fully take root, he felt a gentle wave of admonishment from Zangetsu, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him reconsider. His lessons had thought him that one could take something simple, and do something extraordinary. So, maybe the Shinigami only had Shunpo, not because they didn't _have_ anything better, but because they didn't _need_ anything better.

Sending back feelings of gratitude towards his partner, Ichigo refocused on the book, determined to grasp the concepts presented.

An hour later, he leaned back in his chair, mind filled with all the things he had just learned. Without warning, he burst into motion; moving silently, he locked the two books in his bottom-most drawer and then went to his bed, lying on his back and preparing to slip into his inner world.

Ever since he had learnt that whatever happened to his spiritual body affected his human body in some form, he had decided that he would substitute his usual nightly exercises for ones in his inner world. Of course, as his injuries had shown him, the transfer of changes was not one-to-one, but given the intensity of the workout he would get from sparring with Zangetsu, he concluded that his human body would still gain significant benefits. A few talks with Zangetsu had also suggested that the stronger his human body became, the stronger his soul would be in turn, and the more he could push his spiritual form to improve, which in turn would strengthen his body further; it would be a continuous cycle of improvements in steadily increasing leaps and bounds. Of course, they theorized that the only reason that Ichigo could gain such a benefit was because he was still essentially human and his soul was still _malleable_, so to speak; it hadn't yet been cut off from his body by true death and so still possessed the ability to rapidly evolve.

* * *

In a transition so smooth he barely felt it, Ichigo found himself in his inner world, facing his black clad stoic companion.

Without a single word, Zangetsu brought forward his right hand, revealing the broad katana clasped in it. Echoing his movement, Ichigo materialized his own sword, and at an unseen signal, he lunged at Zangetsu.

Right from the get go, he gave it all he had, not pulling any punches and pushing himself as hard as he could. He parried, thrust, countered, and swiped and still he could not touch the older man.

He was not disheartened.

Pushing out all distracting thoughts, he lost himself to the motions of their fight, unconsciously incorporating clever moves that Zangetsu had used in their previous spar and making them his own.

Zangetsu, for his part, was immensely pleased with the progress that he was seeing. True, it was only their second spar so far, but already, he was seeing some visible improvement in the areas that he had pointed out to his wielder previously. Still, Ichigo had some ways to go before he could match him, and with his next few attacks, he reminded the orange haired teen of that fact.

Finally, after about two hours, Zangetsu disengaged from Ichigo and paused in his assault.

Curious about the abrupt end, Ichigo also dropped out of his offensive stance, though he was still on guard.

Seeing that he had his wielder's attention, Zangetsu focused, and ignoring the feeling of gathering reiatsu in the air, he grasped his sword and _twisted_, and Ichigo gasped.

Where before they had been holding broad swords, now they held the more traditional katanas, though slightly longer than usual – yet not the length of an Odachi. Ichigo took the time to study his new blade; _this is_ _Zangetsu_, he thought to himself.

It had a black handle, with a short dark red ribbon attached to the base of the handle. Its blade was a long and slightly curved silver length of cool, unyielding death – though at certain angles, it seemed to flash black. Simply looking at it, he felt the same regal and unshakable aura of strength that usually surrounded Zangetsu, further confirming for him that this was _his_ sword. Moving his hand about, to get a feel for the sword, he was pleased with the feeling of rightness that the blade gave him; how it responded as though it were already an extension of his form, singing through the air in heady anticipation.

With a pleased smile on his face, he raised his gaze to meet the eyes of his silent companion. Smoothly sliding into a stance that suited the smaller sword, he had to fight down more feelings of giddiness that threatened to overwhelm him at how much easier it was to wield his actual sword. Seeing a small smile spread across Zangetsu's face, Ichigo realized that he must have been projecting his feelings, yet he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Seeing that his wielder was ready to continue, Zangetsu blurred forward, blade gracefully and effortlessly cutting through the air on a straight course for Ichigo's throat. With a deft and easy twist, Ichigo's sword was suddenly in the path of the incoming attack, deflecting it away from him. Not letting up for an instant, Zangetsu struck again and again, exhilarated that his wielder could finally use _him_, and not some sword tainted by another's power.

The two combatants lost track of time as they fought each other, bodies a blur as they struck at high speeds, both unconsciously using their reiatsu to facilitate such high-speed movement – a precursor to Shunpo.

A few hours in, Ichigo was beginning to tire, allowing attacks that he might have previously blocked to bypass his guard. Zangetsu, sensing weakness, suddenly flickered out of view, and Ichigo, wide-eyed, froze when he felt the cool point of a blade under his chin. Slowly, his bewildered gaze rose to meet the equally surprised eyes of his zanpakuto, until together, they both broke out into small smiles of accomplishment; without a doubt, that had been _Shunpo_.

Not for the first time since meeting Zangetsu, Ichigo found himself feeling grateful and happy that he had been gifted with such a companion; truly, he could ask for no better partner.

Without wasting any time, and also ignoring the various aches and pains he was feeling, Ichigo sought to learn from Zangetsu how to perform the technique. It took a few tries, but eventually, Ichigo was able to achieve short distance bursts of Shunpo; now, all that was left was practice to fully master it.

Finally acknowledging his injuries, Ichigo flopped down on the roof of the building they had been fighting on, and collapsed onto his back in fatigue. He waited to catch his breath as he felt his depleted reiatsu stores slowly refill themselves. With a groan, he realized that he would be sore in so many places tomorrow. _Still_, he thought to himself,_ I wouldn't have it any other way_.

Eventually, having somewhat recovered, he raised himself into a seating position and looked at Zangetsu, who was standing at the edge not too far away and gazing out at the scenery before him. He let loose a slight huff when he found that the older man wasn't even breathing hard, and for a moment, he had to fight down burgeoning feelings of frustration. However, his partner's soothing baritone drew him out of his thoughts,

"Do not concern yourself about such things, Ichigo. We are one, you and I; as you grow stronger, so do I. Individually, we grow stronger by ourselves, and so, when we fight together against a foe, we would have improved twice as much - we would be twice as strong. I can hardly expect you to keep advancing if I don't do the same myself, can I?"

Blinking at what Zangetsu had just said, Ichigo realized that he was indeed correct. The more they sparred, the stronger Ichigo grew. The stronger he grew, the more powerful his zanpakuto became. The more powerful Zangetsu got, the more challenge he provided to Ichigo, and so, the more Ichigo advanced from sparring with him. With a sigh, he aimed a smile of gratitude at his companion, and got to his feet to stand beside him...to stand _with_ him.

Turning to look at the rest of his inner world, Ichigo asked,

"Were you able to investigate the remnants of Rukia's power?"

With a slight incline of his head, Zangetsu responded,

"Indeed I was, and I found that you were correct. I was able to glean bits and pieces of information concerning how Shinigami use reiatsu, as well as some things about the workings of the Soul Society that she had neglected to mention. The fragments of information, as well as the books your father gave you should help us be better prepared for the inevitable upcoming confrontation with Soul Society."

With a nod of understanding, Ichigo refocused on the scenery in front of them, absently playing with his reiatsu to stir up a cooling breeze. After a few moments just observing, he finally let loose a sigh and turned once more to face Zangetsu. Seeing the tacit nod offered back to him, he allowed a small smile to show on his face as he slowly faded out of view, returning to the outside world.

Getting up, Ichigo quietly retrieved some muscle balm and tended to the numerous little cuts and bruises that had appeared on his human body, sparing a moment to be grateful that none of them would be visible once he hot dressed tomorrow.

* * *

Rukia glanced at the orange haired teen walking beside her as they left to pick up Ichigo's sisters. It had been a few days since she had moved into his home and she found herself thinking about what she had learned about the teen so far.

She had watched him interact with his sisters and she had seen that beneath his stoic – and sometimes scowling – visage, there was an older brother who dearly loved his little sisters; occasionally, she had to fight off a surge of jealousy when she compared Ichigo to her own brother, before she would then forcibly dismiss the thoughts from her head. She was glad that Ichigo took the time to actually talk to her and answer the numerous questions she had about the Living World. He had even gone so far as to take her shopping for some things – using her own money of course. He was more mature than most of the people she had met, a fact that amazed her when she recalled that he was merely fifteen years old. Still, she found that she didn't mind spending time with him, even though he never went out of his way to be especially open with her.

It had taken a few days for her to realize that no matter how at ease Ichigo had seemed with her, he still kept from sharing personal things about himself; not surprising, since they had only known each other for a few days, so she didn't let it bother her. As long as they kept their agreement to never explicitly lie to each other, she would refrain from invading his personal business.

The past few days had seen a steady decrease in hollow appearances as word spread that Hollows who went to Karakura town never returned. Watching Ichigo tackle the various monsters that invaded the town, Rukia had to accept that he seemed to be improving with every battle. At first, she had wondered if he was getting instruction from someone else, but observing him for a whole day had revealed that he wasn't sneaking out at night to train, so she dismissed that thought. Eventually, she had decided that he was simply getting used to his new powers; a reasonable conclusion, since no one would expect a mere fifteen year old human boy to know the first thing about monster slaying from the get go.

The faint sound of her name being called from afar caused her to pause in her stride and turn backwards. She smiled when she recognized the approaching form of Inoue; right hand waving in the air while her left clutched a bag of groceries.

* * *

Ichigo sat on his bed, reading the last page of one of his school books in preparation for a test the next day. His mind wasn't too focused on the task at hand since he had already studied and was only revising. Instead, he was thinking back to the encounter he and Rukia had had with Inoue earlier in the day. He had noticed the mark on her leg; reminiscent of a giant hand print, as well as the faint _hollow_ sensation the injury gave off. With a furrowed brow, he turned to Rukia and said,

"Hey Rukia, mind removing me from my body now? I don't want to have to start scrambling if I need to take care of a hollow later in the night."

Blinking a little in surprise, Rukia suddenly felt the urge to face-palm in embarrassment at failing to think of such an obvious solution to the problem of preparing for hollows in the night. Wasting no more time, she put on the special glove and pushed on Ichigo's chest.

With a muted flash of light, Ichigo's soul was ejected form his body, which he then caught and laid down in a comfortable position on his bed. Turning back to Rukia, who was sitting in a chair by his bed, he prepared to thank her when his eyes abruptly widened in alarm as his senses went haywire.

Before Rukia could react to the sudden beeping of her cell phone, Ichigo kicked her chair, causing it to roll away from the bed and towards the door, carrying her to safety. In the same motion, he rolled backwards, ending up in a handstand on his bed, just in time to dodge the clawed hand that crashed into the ground previously occupied by Rukia and his legs. Spinning on his planted hand, he lashed out with a powerful reiatsu charged kick, which harshly connected with the mask of the hollow.

With a sharp crack, a chunk of bone shattered off the top right portion of the Hollow's mask, revealing its right eye and some of the face beneath. With a roar of pain, the hollow swiftly retreated into a black portal to recover from its wounds. Before it completely vanished however, its serpentine tail lashed out at Rukia, who was too slow to dodge.

With a yelp, Rukia was smashed into the wall of Ichigo's room, where she slumped down in pain. As she noticed Ichigo take a step in her direction, she shouted at him,

"I'm fine! Go! Chase after it!"

With only one more glance in her direction, Ichigo leapt out his window, following his instincts and rushing towards Orihime's home. The moment he knew that he was out of sight of his house, he vanished in a flicker of reiatsu.

The Hollow once known as Inoue Sora gazed into the window of his former home, watching as Orihime and Tatsuki held a conversation while Orihime cooked. Just as he prepared to crash into the room, a surge of reiatsu had him turning to look behind him, where he found the figure of the orange haired Shinigami that had injured him, standing in mid-air and gazing calmly back at him.

Snarling in rage, he spat a glob of acid at Ichigo, who merely flickered out of the way. Before the Hollow could launch another attack, Ichigo spoke two words,

"Inoue Sora"

The snake like hollow stilled completely, eyes blank as that name threatened to bring back a lifetime of memories. Furiously shaking its head, it screamed out in a voice that was double toned and downright shiver inducing,

"You...you're the one who took her from me! You're the reason she forgot me!"

With a bellow of rage, he launched himself at Ichigo, who calmly intercepted his hand with the flat of his broad katana and then smacked him away with it.

Crashing into the ground below, the hollow groaned in pain, before it tried to drag itself out of the hole it had just created on impact. Before it could get too far, Ichigo materialized next to it and kicked it in its torso, launching it back up into the air, where he then promptly began to flit around the flailing figure, inflicting debilitating cuts and injuries onto it.

With a final blow, the hollow fell back down to the ground, out of breath and too injured to move. As it heard the approaching footsteps of its foe, it felt paralyzing fear at the presence of the Shinigami who had casually manhandled it. A hand suddenly grabbed its hair before it experienced a rush of sound and abruptly found its face pressed up against the window it had been peering into previously.

Too tired to put up any resistance, the hollow looked at the scene playing out in the room and its breath hitched in its throat.

Inside, Orihime was kneeling before a shrine dedicated to her deceased brother and, from the looks of it, she appeared to be talking to the picture placed on it; perhaps telling it about her day so far.

Seeing that the Hollow was paying attention, Ichigo began to speak in a soft voice,

"Everyday, when she has dinner, Orihime spends almost an hour talking to you, telling you about what happened during her day...keeping you alive in her thoughts and in her heart. Sora, you were...are...her big brother, and as a big brother, you should have been happy when you died, knowing that there would be others to take care of your little sister...others to take over for you as her big brother...content with the knowledge that you had done your best by her. You see, we didn't take her away from you, Sora, no one can."

By the time Ichigo was done, tears of happiness and regret were already trailing down the white mask covering Sora's face.

Slowly, Ichigo descended with him back down to the ground.

With gratitude shining in his previously maddened eyes, Sora opened his arms, exposing his body to Ichigo, silently asking to be set free, and with an understanding smile on his face, Ichigo granted his wish.

After watching the last of the reiatsu particles disappear, Ichigo slowly turned and looked straight at Rukia's form standing some distance away. From where he stood, he could easily make out the look of sadness in her eyes, but he chose not to comment on it. Stopping beside her, he crouched down, wordlessly indicating that she should hop onto his back. Standing to his full height, he leapt to the top of a nearby building, and with one last glance at the happy scene of Orihime laughing at something Tatsuki had said, he leapt back towards his home.

* * *

**Honestly, I really want to be done with these parts and get on to the Soul Society Arc, but these things are necessary for character development, and to further show the changes that this Ichigo brings to the table. So, just bear with me as I tackle the cursed parakeet, kon, grand fisher and Ishida; I really couldn't care less about Don Kanonji.**

**Let me know your thoughts on the scene with Isshin...I'm not sure if it adds to or takes away from the story.**

**Please leave a comment if you can. Thank you for taking the time to read and review my story.**


	4. Right Arm of the Giant

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**AN: The premise for this story is a different Ichigo going through the events of the Bleach storyline. I aim to make him more cool headed, logical and just generally not a brash teen that rushes mindlessly into things. I would say that he would not become over powered, but then again, in a world where beings redefine landscapes with the swing of a sword, what is overpowered? Anyway, BAMF Ichigo**

* * *

Rukia listened as one of the girls in her class described a funny incident involving her dad, a backyard pool and tons of corn flour. While she seemed to be paying attention to the truly humorous tale, she was in fact watching Ichigo out of the corner of her eyes.

A little more than a week had passed since the incident with Inoue Sora and the interaction between the orange haired teen and herself had changed once again. Now, he was significantly warmer towards her; much of the distance between them seemed to have been bridged by their shared experience with the older brother who had failed to move on. He had even taken her, along with his two sisters, to an amusement park on the last day of the weekend. She had to admit that being included had left her feeling warm, allowing her to experience what having a somewhat doting older brother would have felt like; the fact that she was about ten times his age didn't even factor into anything.

She found that she had absolutely nothing to complain about: he performed his duties as a substitute Shinigami faithfully, even taking the time to gently ease plus souls into the concept of Soul society before sending them onwards; he was patient with her, taking the time to answer her questions about the Living World, no matter how silly or obvious they might seem; he even put up with her unreal obsession with Chappy the rabbit. For the first time since being forcefully separated from Renji in the Academy and tossed into the uncertain world of Kuchiki nobility, she finally felt like she had a place to fit in…like she belonged. With a small smile on her face, she spared a moment to thank whatever god was listening for leading her to Ichigo's room so many nights ago, and then she refocused on the humorous tale being shared by her classmate.

Ichigo, who had not been oblivious to Rukia's scrutiny, was also thinking about the sable haired Shinigami who had suddenly intruded into his life. After the incident with Inoue Sora, he had taken the time to actually get to know her a little better, and what he found had saddened him a little; she seemed like someone dearly in need of a friend. His books had possessed a small chapter about noble houses – one of which was the Shiba clan…his own clan if the names on his father's books had been any indication. He had read about the Kuchiki clan, and when he innocently mentioned that she sometimes acted like a princess, she had closed up faster than a bear trap, donning a blank face that only served to reinforce his suspicions. Still, regardless of the possibility of her belonging to one of the four noble houses, he still couldn't shake the feeling that nobility was just not her.

Taking the chance to test out his theory, he had taken her and his sisters out to an amusement park, hoping to see how she would react to being treated like a normal person. She had been the happiest he had ever seen her. Oh, she did try to hide it, but being the perceptive person that he was, he had easily seen through her. Still, almost without noticing it, he had found himself slowly treating her like he did one of his sisters, albeit if they were slightly older. Sure, sometimes she kicked up a fuss about it, but having somewhat learned to read her true feelings, he had been easily able to tell that she appreciated it.

However, the change in their interaction had not gone unnoticed by the ever nosy teens of their class, and somehow, rumors had been rapidly generated and flung into the ever listening winds, claiming that Rukia and Ichigo were an item. The issue was further compounded by the fact that Yuzu had taken to packing their lunches together, thus leading to a situation where they always seemed to be sharing their lunch. When Rukia, blissfully naïve girl that she was, had mentioned to Keigo that she and Ichigo lived together…_in the same room_, it had been all over.

No matter how many scowls and heart stopping glares Ichigo tossed around, the rumors only seemed to be gaining in strength. Only his close group of friends believed him, and somehow, that had been enough for him.

Now, as he settled down for class to begin, he noticed that Chad had not yet turned up for school, and for some reason, that faintly worried him.

* * *

The sudden shadow cast over him alerted him to the presence of the person that his reiatsu senses had been tracking since they entered school gate. Looking up, he took in the slightly battered and bandaged form of his tall Mexican friend, before directing a slightly questioning look at him.

With a shrug to show that he was fine, Chad held up the object in his hand, which was a cage in which a white cockatiel was perched.

Blinking at the odd sight, Ichigo waited for Chad to explain while Inoue and Chizuru cooed over how cute it looked – though, he had a feeling that Chizuru was not focused on the bird, judging by the slight drool at the corner of her mouth.

"His owner didn't want to keep him anymore, and so I decided to take him in. The rest was just an accident as a metal beam fell on me last night, and then a biker ran into me this morning. I am late because I had to take him to the hospital."

Around him, the other teens just gaped at Chad's casual mention of being hit by a motorcycle. Seeing that Chad was not going to say anything further on the matter, Ichigo sighed and begun to root through his bag, looking for the small first aid kit that he always carried around for times when he had to deal with delinquents looking for a bit of fame. Finding it, he tended to the silent dark skinned teen, disinfecting the few cuts that had yet to be bandaged with an experienced and steady hand.

As he worked, he probed the bird with a sliver of his reiatsu, humming distractedly as his senses revealed the presence of a soul trapped in the bird. Wondering about how to approach the matter at hand – Chad's _accidents_ made him suspicious of the bird – he made a mental note to ask Rukia for her suggestion on a reasonable approach to the problem. As he turned his full attention back on to disinfecting the last of Chad's wounds, his senses brushed against Chad himself and he just managed to avoid freezing in surprise.

Getting a grip on himself, and finishing up the last of his ministrations, Ichigo began to pack away the items in the kit, waving off Chad's words of gratitude. His mind was furiously working to understand what he had just sensed in his friend.

Without a doubt, that had been the reiatsu of a Hollow.

As he packed the last of the items away, he suddenly had a thought, having noticed a slight discrepancy in the hollow signature clinging to his friend. Gaze flickering around to make sure that no one was paying undue attention to him, his eyes landed on Rukia's and he received a subtle nod in return; obviously she had something to tell him about the bird in his friend's possession, but it could wait.

Tuning out the rest of the world, Ichigo grasp a tiny portion of his reiatsu and sent it gently questing into Chad. A few inches from his skin, he picked up the remnants of a hollow's reiatsu on his friend, suggesting that Chad's accidents had been intentional acts of malice. Still, he probed further, and as he found nothing more the deeper he went, he began to wonder if his hunch had just been a –

_There!_

Ichigo couldn't stop his breath from hitching in his throat, though he was glad that no one present noticed his reaction.

There was _something_ residing inside Chad's soul, something not quite human and more like a hollow.

No, that was wrong; the feeling lacked the frightening sensation of the insatiable and eternal hunger that clung to all the Hollows he had met so far. It felt more like a hollow had passed through him, and what he was sensing was the state of things left in its wake. Either way, this was his friend, he was hardly going to go about attempting to purify him; he would give it a wait and see approach, and when the time came, he would help his brother in all but blood in any way that he could.

With that conclusion, he turned back to his lunch, offering some to Chad who had obviously not brought any with him, and thinking of how to get Rukia alone, before school ended, to discuss what to do about the bird; Isshin was picking up the girls that day and Rukia had mentioned that she had some things to take care of.

* * *

Opening the door and calling out a greeting, Ichigo was taken aback at the pandemonium that met his eyes. Sparing a moment to question a passing Yuzu, he learnt that there had been an accident nearby and the people injured had been rushed to their clinic. Wasting no time, he put away his items and made his way to the family clinic, smoothly inserting himself next to his father and working in perfect synchrony with him, just like he had so many times before.

With the addition of a second pair of skilled helping hands, the patients were quickly seen to, and so, when the hulking form of Chad stumbled into the clinic, Ichigo was ready to catch him when his strength finally failed him.

Setting him down on one of the recently cleared beds, Ichigo began to provide first aid while he waited for his father to finish up with the last of the seriously injured victims. As he worked, he talked to Chad and found out that he had been involved in the accident. Going on a hunch, he used his senses to probe Chad's new wounds, finding that his suspicions were correct as he once again felt a hollow's aura – the same aura he had felt at school that very morning.

Isshin eventually finished with his patient and made his way over to Ichigo and his friend. Casting a searching look at Chad, who in turn responded with a bland one of his own, Ichigo finally made way for his father to tend to Chad while he left to dispose of the used medical supplies.

In keeping with the hygienic standards of the family clinic, Yuzu had moved the bird cage containing the cockatiel out of the ward, placing it on a chair by the entrance. Karin just happened to be passing through the same entrance a few minutes later with a fresh supply of bandages.

As she walked by the chair holding the cage, she suddenly froze as a psychic wave of anguish and terror abruptly overwhelmed her senses. She found that she couldn't breathe as she was bombarded with the deep cutting feelings of loss and torment that plagued the soul trapped in the bird, which was forced to serve as bait for a sadistic hollow. Just as it became too much and she was about to pass out, strong but gentle – _always gentle with her and Yuzu_ – arms encircled her, enclosing her in a safe haven in which she was freed from the hold of the tortured soul.

Gulping down huge amounts of air, and completely oblivious to the tears streaming down her face, Karin hid her face in her brother's chest as he gently rubbed a soothing circle into her back.

Ichigo did not even need to ask what was wrong with his black haired sister; his senses did not fail to alert him to the dreadful aura currently surrounding the bird. Now, more than ever, he was completely convinced that the bird, and the soul trapped in it, was tied to the hollow attacks plaguing his dark skinned friend. Still, now was not the time to focus on that, not with his sister falling apart in his arms.

Rising to his full height, Ichigo carried Karin downstairs, taking the time – on a whim – to deftly weave his reiatsu in tight blanket around her, hoping that it would serve as a barrier to the effect of the trapped soul. Feeling Karin slowly stop shaking, he ascertained that his hunch had been correct, and with a few more murmured words of comfort, he finally deposited her on the same couch that held the concerned figure of his other sister. Dropping a kiss on her head, he left her in the loving care of her twin and made his way up to his room, intending to meet with Rukia and finally make a plan to deal with the problem.

Rukia looked up, meeting his gaze as he opened the door, and suddenly, Ichigo realized that she must have also been able to feel the taint of Chad's wounds all the way from his room. With a weary sigh, he sat on his bed and quirked an eyebrow in question at the girl seating in the only chair in his room.

Having learnt to interpret the orange haired teens little gestures, she responded to his silent question,

"It is obvious that Sado-kun suspects that something is off with the bird, and so, we have to be careful with sending it onwards. Also, since it seems like there is a hollow involved, even though my pager doesn't give off any warning, we might want to wait and catch it in the act."

Knowing how much Ichigo cared for his friends, Rukia held her breath as she finished her last sentence, fully expecting the teen to stubbornly reject the idea of using Chad as bait.

Ichigo surprised her by sighing once more and finally responding,

"I know you know how opposed I am to the idea of waiting for the hollow to make its move. Yet, I trust in Chad, and I know how strong he is, so I know that he will be fine. Still, we will have to make sure that we are on hand to intervene when the time comes; no matter how confident I am in his ability to hold his own against even a hollow, I see no reason to put him in unnecessary danger."

Letting loose a slightly relieved sigh, Rukia mock scowled at the amused light that entered Ichigo's eyes once he saw the tension leave her form at his agreement. Checking the time, he stood and motioned to her that it was just about time for dinner. The two made their way downstairs to find a more stable Karin who looked like nothing had happened, and Yuzu, who was bustling around putting the finishing touches on the meal.

* * *

Ichigo startled awake as a cry from Yuzu pierced through the stillness of the morning. Paying no attention to the suddenly scrambling figure of Rukia, he was already out of his room, practically flying down the path to the family clinic where the cry had originated. Coming to a sliding stop while adopting his most lethal unarmed stance, his eyes flitted from wall to wall, seeking whatever threat had dared to even look in his precious sister's direction.

Blinking at the empty room, he turned a questioning look on the surprised form of his younger sister, wondering what the problem had been. Wordlessly, and still reeling from Ichigo's sudden appearance, Yuzu motioned to the bed, drawing the attention of the other inhabitants of the house who had only just arrived.

With a muffled curse, Isshin hurried forward, searching in vain for the patient who was supposed to be in the currently empty bed. Spinning to his now perplexed son, he quickly explained the situation, and then watched as Ichigo hurried to ready himself to go to school and track down his missing classmate, all the while feeling a rising dread in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

Chad panted as he slid down the wall in the abandoned warehouse. He had been running near constantly ever since he had escaped from the Kurosaki family clinic, all the while feeling as though he was being hunted. Once more, he ignored Shibata's pleas for him to just leave him behind and get to safety, murmuring to the frantic bird that he would be fine. As the caged bird got more vexed and persistent, Chad finally turned to look at him and said,

"I'll be fine, Shibata. I am strong enough to –"

Only the fact that he was focused on the trapped child's eyes allowed him to notice when they flickered behind him in sudden terror. Using that split second warning, he was already rolling aside as the ground he had been sitting on suddenly cratered under the effect of some tremendous force – and judging by the huge shape of the crater, that force was a monstrous clawed foot.

Wasting no time, Chad lashed out with a kick at the invisible enemy, feeling it connect and watching as some part of the opposite wall demolished under the force of the super strength propelled flying object. Getting to his feet, and completely oblivious to Shibata's wide-eyed stare of awe, he tore out of the building, steadily making his way towards an abandoned park where he would have more space to fight.

* * *

Ichigo nearly growled in frustration as his most recent round of questioning revealed that Chad hadn't been seen at school that morning. Getting more irritated with his lack of success in finding his friend, he ran back to the agreed upon meeting spot to find Rukia already waiting for him, shaking her head in response to his unasked question and leaving him more disappointed.

Even his attempts to track down Chad by sensing for the reiatsu of the hollow that had been attacking him met with no success; it was as if something was masking both Chad and the caged bird, keeping him from honing in on them that way.

Suddenly, a wave of comfort, followed by a suggestion, from his inner world had him smacking himself for being so stupid. With Rukia looking on with a slightly bewildered look, he concentrated on his reiatsu, simultaneously focusing on his elusive friend while also letting his focus fly unfettered.

Rukia's eyes abruptly widened in disbelief as reiatsu condensed into visible ribbons around the still orange haired teen, while their clothing fluttered in the reiatsu generated breeze.

Snapping his eyes open, Ichigo's hand lashed out and grabbed a hold of the ribbon that felt most like Chad, sparing a moment to send off a surge of gratitude to Zangetsu before he took off running once more. Behind him, Rukia gaped after just witnessing the high level technique, **Reiraku** (Spirit Ribbons).

* * *

Chad panted as silently as he could as he tried to regain his breath while also keeping his ears open for the giant footsteps of his invisible opponent. He had been battling what could only be a monster for about ten minutes now and though he couldn't see it, he knew that he had given about half as good as he had gotten. Still, at the rate things were going he had to accept that he would probably lose the battle and maybe even his life.

A gasp from Shibata had his fists lashing out in an unconscious move, one which thankfully connected with what felt like a bone mask located where a face would be. Quickly turning his attention onto the silhouetted form now visible in the kicked up cloud of dust, he dashed in, arms blurring in a deadly combination of punches and jabs, all which struck their target powerfully.

The battered and bruised hollow known as Shrieker was getting to the end of his rope. The pesky dark skinned human who was supposed to be easy pickings had been giving him so much trouble that he was beginning to reconsider the whole bait and trap thing…well, only for an instant anyway.

_But really,_ were his exasperated thoughts, _he can't even see me for crying out loud_.

Suddenly noticing that the teen seemed to be lost in thoughts in the middle of their battle, he lurched forward as silently as he could – having learnt his lesson painfully a few minutes ago. However, his prey was alerted by the gasp of that blasted kid ghost and he suddenly found himself airborne with a throbbing face as reward for his efforts.

Crashing into the ground and completely ignorant of the raised cloud of dust that was giving him away, Shrieker took a moment to contemplate his lot in life. He was just about reaching a decision on how to proceed when the first punch thundered into his stomach.

Arching up in pain, he was completely unprepared for the sudden onslaught of blows that rocketed into his prone body, causing him great pain and no small amount of internal injury.

After a few seconds of the salvo of punches, his patience snapped with a nearly audible sound.

With a roar of rage, he tossed Chad away from him and propelled himself into the air, remaining airborne using one of his hollow powers.

Chad, completely blindsided by the retaliation from his downed foe, crashed into the ground with a painful boom of sound and displaced dirt. He staggered to his feet a moment later, arms raised in preparation for a continued assault that never came.

Flicking his gaze over to Shibata, he followed the bird's eyes to the sky, where his enemy was no doubt waiting.

Currently airborne, Shrieker fumed in volcanic anger at the happenings of the past few minutes.

Completely fed up with the charade, and knowing that his prey wouldn't hear him anyway, he didn't waste time with any taunting.

Chad suddenly felt a huge number of moderately sized _squishy_ objects impact his body and cling to him. Without any visual aid, he could only conclude that they seemed to be giant slugs of some sort…or leeches. He suddenly spun to the cage placed aside when he heard a despairing cry from the talking bird there.

Shibata, having long since learned Shrieker's hunting methods, let loose a cry of despair as he took in Chad covered from head to toe with pink leeches. Turning his fearful gaze up to the airborne hollow, he met the maliciously triumphant eyes of his tormentor with a plea for mercy in his own – a plea that was disdainfully ignored.

Wasting no time whatsoever, Shrieker stuck out his tongue and vibrated it at high speed.

As soon as the dust from the resulting explosion had cleared, Shibata gazed upon the still form of the kind dark skinned human. Chad was lying unmoving on the ground, covered in slight burns, bruises, and cuts…as well as quite an amount of blood.

Shrieker softly touched down a few feet from the prone human, and began to make his way towards the teen. He had reduced the effectiveness of his bombs to keep the teen alive, though unable to do anything. He wanted to savor his meal while it was still alive and warm.

As he reached down to grasp Chad's hair, the teen twitched, and Shrieker only had time to think: _Oh for the love of…_

Chad was in more pain than he had been in in a long time. The explosion had drained him of almost all the strength he had, leaving him battered, bruised and bloodied on the floor. He could hear the approaching footsteps of the monster, along with tearful sniffling from the direction of the cage containing Shibata. Gathering the last of his strength, he waited until he could feel the thing's breath on the back of his neck, and then he struck.

With a grunt of pain, Shrieker once again found himself winded and contemplating the skies directly above his prone form. He was stunned for one moment as he lay there, before his reiatsu erupted in a lethal storm of fury and raw killing intent as he went far beyond anger, and into apoplectic rage.

Surging to his feet, he focused on the kneeling form of the panting teen. Zeroing in on his target, he hurled an obscene amount of leeches at the human, covering every single inch of his body, as well as the region in a five foot radius around him, in explosives.

Far past wanting to keep his meal alive, he stuck his tongue out and screamed with maddened eyes and a crazed voice,

"Die!"

And then it all went wrong.

* * *

Ichigo, with Rukia carried on his back, set a relentless pace as he followed the reiatsu ribbon he had summoned. However, his single minded focus was interrupted when an explosion suddenly occurred a distance ahead of him. Impossibly speeding up further once he saw it, he entered speeds that left him a nearly indistinguishable blur to the people he blew past.

Deftly cutting a sharp corner, he finally entered the park where his friend was located, but the sight before him had him rooted to the spot in an instant.

His worried gaze landed on the kneeling figure of his best friend, easily cataloguing the numerous injuries he had sustained as well as the pink leeches that covered him and the ground around him. Slowly, he set Rukia down and, before she could say anything, tilted his head in Chad's direction. Hesitating for only a moment, Rukia made her way towards the teen covered in huge bugs, clutching in her hands, the first aid kit that Ichigo had snagged from his bags before running off that morning.

Now, Ichigo turned his suddenly blank gaze on the hollow who had dared to harm his friend – the hollow who was too distracted to notice the sudden proximity of two tastier and far more dangerous, souls. As soon as he saw the hollow's tongue stick out, and although he didn't know what it planned to do, he _moved_.

As the hollow prepared its attack, Ichigo was suddenly crouched in front of it, and before it could react, his fist rammed into the bottom of its jaw as he sprung up into a powerful uppercut. With a sound like a sword being sheathed, the hollow's tongue fell out of its mouth, severed by the teeth of its owner.

Letting loose a howl of pain, Shrieker stumbled back as his mouth filled with blood from his now shortened tongue.

Rukia, who had been working to pull off the things clinging to Chad so that she could get at his wounds, spun to find Ichigo staring down at the currently screaming hollow, wondering how he could have injured it in his human body. Now done with removing the bugs, she helped Chad to his feet and led him back to a tree nearby, where he slid down and rested as she worked quickly and efficiently to tend to the worst of his injuries.

Shrieker, after a few moments of agony, was finally able to work through the blinding pain of having just bitten off his tongue. He focused on the newcomer and found, to his ever growing consternation, that it was yet another human. He paused on that thought, took another sniff, and then stumbled back in fear. _No, _he thought to himself,_ a Shinigami…two in fact_.

Still, he reasoned to himself, the two Shinigami seemed to be stuck in human bodies, meaning that he still stood a chance at defeating them. A haze of greed descended upon his thoughts, causing him to focus on the veritable feast before him at the expense of actually feeling out the relative strengths of the newcomers.

Too injured to bother with talk, he lurched towards the orange haired teen, intending to deal with him first.

At this time, Rukia had managed to tend to the worst of Chad's injuries, enough that he could take over binding the rest. She then promptly turned and sprinted towards Ichigo, noticing the hollow doing the same, and praying that she would get there first. A few feet from him, she pulled on the spirit glove she had obtained from Urahara and leapt forward with her arm outstretched, a scant few seconds ahead of the hollow.

Chad looked up at Rukia's actions and noticed Ichigo's body crumpling down into Rukia's arms. His sharp eyes made out the rapidly approaching giant footsteps of his invisible foe causing them to widen in alarm. He tried – and failed – to get to his feet, and could then only watch in rising concern as the footsteps reached his two classmates.

The hollow's hands were inches from his face when Ichigo stepped forward out of his human body. His brown eyes, flickering with the blue power of his reiatsu, locked with the yellow and black eyes of the approaching hollow, and in that instant, Shrieker realized that he had made a grave miscalculation.

Ichigo seemed to only stand in place as Shrieker ran past the people in front of him, all without harming a single one. The hollow experienced a brief moment of confusion before it registered the sudden change in its center of gravity – a change brought on by the fact that it was now less one arm.

Rukia, whose gigai had almost completely succeeded in leaving her little more than a reiatsu sensitive human, had found herself unable to follow Ichigo's sword swing, and thus she could only blink in surprise as the hollow seemed to miss them as it ran past. However, her confusion was rectified once she saw the hollow's severed right arm crash into the floor.

Before Shrieker could adjust to the sudden pain, Ichigo spun around and blurred forward, ending up with his back to the now stationary hollow.

Abruptly, blood erupted from the hollow's remaining three limbs as the effects of Ichigo's furious assault made themselves known.

Now on his knees, and unable to move due to the debilitating pain, Shrieker could only watch on helplessly as the broad katana was raised above the orange haired Shinigami's head and then brought down, effortlessly splitting his mask and ending his reign of terror.

Ichigo, seeing the monster that had caused such injury to his best friend finally getting its just desserts, moved forward to the bird cage containing the trapped soul of the child, Shibata. Crouching down, he coated his hand with a thin film of reiatsu and then gently prodded the bird, smoothly releasing the plus soul from its imprisonment.

Shibata, who had been left speechless at the ease with which Chad's orange haired friend had dispatched his tormentor, wordlessly grasped the hand that was offered and made his way back to the tree against which Chad was currently resting, and where Rukia had finally moved Ichigo's limp body to.

Ichigo, knowing that Chad couldn't see the two of them, followed a sudden suggestion from Zangetsu and reached out to envelop Chad in some of his reiatsu, smiling softly to himself when Chad jerked in surprise at the sudden appearance of his black clad best friend and a small translucent child who seemed eerily familiar.

However, before the gathered people could begin to talk, a pall of utter despair descended upon them all, leaving even Ichigo – who was currently the strongest of the lot – off balance and wary.

Focusing on the slowly dying form of the defeated hollow, the four individuals gasped as they took in the humongous doorway that was slowly appearing behind the kneeling hollow.

Taking in the grotesque images carved into the door, Ichigo's mind flashed back to a little paragraph in one of the books Isshin had given him, a paragraph which spoke about what happened to the souls whose sins were too great in life to warrant a free trip to soul society. With that knowledge, he watched grimly as the Gates of Hell opened up and one of hell's guardians exacted justice on the pleading hollow known as Shrieker. As the gates closed, and the guardian receded, Ichigo could have sworn that its shining yellow eyes glanced at him for an instant.

Shaking off the feelings of despair that had fallen over them with the appearance of the gate, the four people by the huge tree finally focused on the matter at hand. They listened as Shibata chronicled the events of how Shrieker had killed his mother in real life, and then killed him as a hollow, only to then trap him in a bird and use him as bait to lure Shinigami and other humans to that death, all the while dangling a reunion with his mother as temptation. After listening to the story, the three students lost whatever pity they might have had for the hell bound hollow.

With all the explanations out of the way, and some words shared between Chad and Shibata, Ichigo performed Konsou on the child's soul, but not before stealthily tagging him with a tiny piece of his reiatsu to make him easier to find if their paths crossed in the near future.

Shinigami duty over and done with, Ichigo returned to his body under Chad's amazed stare, and after having a silent argument with Rukia involving many scowls and twitching eyes, he finally turned to Chad and began to explain about the world after death. Knowing how Rukia felt about human's knowing about the afterlife, he didn't go into too much detail…yet. Still, he reasoned that now that Chad had been exposed to the dangers of the Spiritual World – and also shown that he could hold his own reasonably well for a human, it was only fair that he not be kept ignorant.

Once they had finished, with Chad calmly accepting the news that death gods ran around slicing evil spirits in half and so on, Ichigo turned to Rukia and told her she should feel free to take off since he was going to hang out with Chad for a while.

Giving her friend a searching look, she thought back to how Ichigo had manhandled the hollow in his human body, as well as how beat up the hollow had looked after facing Chad, and then she nodded and turned to leave; the two teens could clearly take care of themselves if anything popped up. Besides, she recalled that she had gotten roped into the plans Orihime, Tatsuki, Yuzu, and Karin had made for the afternoon – the fact that Ichigo cared so much for his sisters and wanted them to have female influences meant that his two closest female classmates were very good friends with his two younger sisters.

* * *

Once Rukia left, Ichigo motioned to Chad to follow him, falling into step beside the now standing teen who walked as though he had not just gotten put through the wringer. As they walked, Ichigo apologized to Chad for failing to intervene earlier on when he first had his suspicions about the various 'accidents' that seemed to plague him. Chad waved it off, reminding him that he too had noticed that the accidents seemed a little too suspicious, and yet he hadn't asked for help. Knowing his friend as well as he did, Ichigo accepted Chad's words and his unspoken forgiveness, though he still made a mental note to try to avoid using his friend as bait in the future, no matter what he said about it.

As the two teens walked, Ichigo told Chad more about Soul Society, and the afterlife in general. He shared his thoughts and opinions about the way things were run there, as well as his determination to keep certain things from Rukia. Chad agreed about the issues that would crop up if Rukia got involved more with Ichigo, mentioning things like plausible deniability in the event that she had to choose between loyalty to Ichigo and her loyalty to Soul Society.

Chad had no problem with believing what Ichigo was saying, since he trusted the other teen completely. From the very beginning, it had always been them against everyone else, and not once had Ichigo ever let him down. Remembering their promises to each other to always get stronger to protect what the other held dearest, Chad vowed to prepare for the coming storm when the Worlds of the Living and the Dead collided.

As though hearing his thoughts, Ichigo then said,

"There is also something else I wanted to talk to you about. Yesterday morning, when I was bandaging your wounds, I noticed the taint of a hollow clinging to some of your injuries, which made sense considering what we just learned. Still, I tried to dig deeper and I found something else."

At this point, they had arrived at one of the more secluded parks in a deserted part of Karakura Town. Now curious about what Ichigo was saying, Chad turned to face him, feeling as though he were standing at the edge of a cliff and somehow knowing that the next few minutes would change his entire life.

Noticing that he had his friend's full attention, Ichigo went on,

"I found a core of spiritual power hidden inside you. It felt a little similar to what your wounds felt like, but more like the sensation left behind in the wake of a hollow. Basically, I believe – and Zangetsu agrees with me on this – that you might have been born with some powers which can be unlocked."

Seeing Chad's thoughtful look, Ichigo settled down to wait for the teen to think through what he had just shared with him. After a few minutes, his friend's even baritone responded,

"Long ago, we made a promise to each other, to always have the other's back and to always fight to protect what mattered most to the other. At first, when you told me about this Shinigami business, I had wondered how I was to keep on having your back."

Here, he locked determined gazes with Ichigo and spoke in a serious tone,

"If you think that I can really access this power, then let us try it. I must get stronger, so that you don't leave me behind and leave your back open to attack."

Unable to suppress the happy smile that spread across his face, Ichigo reached out and bumped his right fist with Chad's, relieved beyond words that his friend chose to include himself in Ichigo's suddenly expanding world.

Finally getting a hold of himself, he sunk down into a meditative pose and motioned for Chad to do the same. He didn't really know how he was going to go about unlocking Chad's power, but using his instinct and the knowledge gained from his new books about the effect of reiatsu on living things, he figured that he should be able to work it out.

Before he started, he gave a note of warning,

"Since I will be basically jump starting your powers, it is completely likely that you will be out of it for a while, at least until your powers stabilize."

Getting a simple nod of acknowledgement, he closed his eyes and, firmly grasping his reiatsu, he extended a tendril of it into Chad. With Zangetsu supporting him every step of the way, he dove in, searching for the same source of power he had felt before. Once he found it, he took the time to fully scan it and found that it had something of a shell encasing it, seemingly keeping it locked away. Momentarily at a loss, he received a suggestion from his older companion and, seeing no other way, decided to go with it.

Shaping the reiatsu into a hard spike, he aimed and drove its sharp point into the shell.

A few miles away, sharp grey eyes snapped up as a wave of reiatsu passed overhead. The owner of said eyes furrowed his brows in confusion as he tried to analyze what his senses were telling him. The reiatsu was, at its core, human, but it seemed to possess a hint of hollow reiatsu in it. Turning his gaze onto the now alert black cat beside him, he raised an eyebrow at it, before promptly chuckling in amusement as it simply stretched and went back to lazing in the patch of sun streaming into the room. Putting the odd curiosity at the back of his mind, he turned back to his work, idly wondering what Isshin's son had gotten into now.

A pair of glasses flashed as their owner readjusted them with his finger. He had finally stopped twitching from the unexpected wave of reiatsu that had just cut through his home. Without a doubt, he knew that it must have had something to do with that pest of a classmate of his. Sighing to himself, and putting it out of his mind, he returned to his sewing; it was his thirteenth attempt at making a small white cape and he was determined to get it right.

In the Kurosaki household, the inhabitants were completely oblivious to the wave of reiatsu that had just passed through the air; understandable given the sheer density of reiatsu that had seeped into the very foundations of the house. Rukia never even paused as she followed Yuzu's directions while she attempted to make an outfit for her recently acquired small Chappy plushy.

Ichigo finally released the breath he had been holding once he ascertained that Chad was merely unconscious after the release of his powers. Bending down, he effortlessly scooped up the bigger teen, as though he weighed nothing, and turned to face his own private hill, before taking off in a flash of Shunpo. Having finally learned how to use Shunpo in his human body, the trip was carried out in about a minute, when before it would have taken him just under an hour – running.

* * *

After rearranging the passed out teen into a more comfortable position, he settled back into his meditative pose, determined to get in some training with Zangetsu. Before he delved in, he cast one last fascinated glance at Chad's black and magenta armored right hand.

Letting his senses out, to alert him if anyone or anything approached him while he was in his inner world, he underwent the now smooth transition to find himself facing an already armed Zangetsu.

Knowing that they had about three hours in the outside world – considerably more in the inner world – before Ichigo would have to return, they began immediately, clashing at high speeds that Ichigo could never have hoped to maintain a week before.

An hour and a half later, Zangetsu was breathing slightly heavier as he watched his wielder catch his breath. He could not hide the feeling of pride that warmed his chest and brought a gleam to his eyes. In merely two weeks, Ichigo had progressed so much that it was nearly unbelievable, yet no matter how much better he got at wielding the sword, Zangetsu noted that Ichigo took particular care not to become complacent. Of course, he was not always successful in keeping his successes from getting to his head, but Zangetsu was always quick to step in and remind him that he was not quite there...yet.

Still, the fact that Zangetsu himself was slightly winded from the hour and a half long bout spoke of Ichigo's advancing talent, as did the negligible cuts and bruises that now adorned the teen's form.

Seeing that Ichigo had gotten his second wind, Zangetsu dismissed the slim katana they had taken to practicing with and moved to stand beside the now seated form of the orange haired teen.

Ichigo, knowing what came next, repositioned himself into a comfortable position and evened his breathing while deftly turning his senses to the older man by his side.

Noting that he was ready, Zangetsu turned back to face the edge of the tall skyscraper and raised his right hand, pointer and middle fingers extended, while saying,

**Hadou no Yon: Byakurai**

A tightly leashed powerful beam of blue-white lightning erupted from his pointed fingers and tore through the air at tremendous speed, travelling from the center of the inner world, where they stood, to the edge of the defined boundary in the space of a breath.

Zangetsu gave Ichigo a moment, before he cast the same Kidou spell again, and then again.

Receiving a nod from Ichigo, he moved on; repositioning his right hand so that his palm faced forward, he intoned,

"_Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! _**Hadou no Sanjuuichi: Shakkahou**."

A swirling red ball of reiatsu the size of a man's head formed in his palm, and then, with a flicker of heat, it was off. Travelling through the air slower than the lightning bolt before it, the ball of spiritual flames arrived at the edge of the inner world in about two seconds, where it promptly detonated with a powerful roar of heat and light.

Once again giving the teen a moment's pause, Zangetsu continued as before, firing the same ball of energy two more times, before switching it up for the last time.

Returning his hand to the palm forward position, he carefully spoke,

"_Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws._ **Hadou no Sanjuusan: Soukatsui**."

This time around, the flames that sparked into existence were blue and markedly hotter than their red counterpart. With a sound like a high pitched scream, a massive torrent of blue flames burst into existence, leaping across the sky with apocalyptic fury, leaving the air dry and heated in its wake.

On the floor beside Zangetsu, Ichigo twitched minutely at the amount of reiatsu Zangetsu had packed into that attack. Somehow, without looking – not that it still surprised him at this point – he was able to tell that Zangetsu felt slightly sheepish at overpowering that move, though he knew that his face would be in its usual stoic façade.

Clamping down a little more firmly on his reiatsu, Zangetsu repeated the incantation, this time getting out moderately powerful flames instead of the inferno from earlier. Satisfied, he gave Ichigo a few more minutes before he performed the attack a last time.

Once he was done, he shifted into a more comfortable position and awaited the teen.

While Zangetsu had been firing off the various Kidou spells, Ichigo had been observing him using his burgeoning abilities with reiatsu sensing, as well as the deep bond he shared with the older man. His observations had allowed him to witness, on the basest scale, the steady ebb and flow of reiatsu in Zangetsu as he performed the various attacks.

It was a method that Zangetsu had suggested they try in order for Ichigo to learn the Shinigami Arts. Since Zangetsu did not need to sleep or go to school, he spent the time when Ichigo was unavailable parsing through the scant few experiences he had managed to harvest from Rukia's reiatsu, as well as the instruction books given to Ichigo by his father. Using what he learned, he had taken to practicing the various techniques any time that Ichigo was not there. That way, when Ichigo finally arrived in his inner world, they wasted no time in getting him to learn the moves.

For Kidou in particular, Zangetsu had suggested that Ichigo keep track of Zangetsu's reiatsu usage during the incantation of each spell, getting a feel for how much he used and how it flowed in his body. That way, Ichigo might come to develop a finer grasp on the techniques and might even be able to use them without incantations eventually. And indeed, their efforts had borne fruits; it had taken him only about three to five tries to get down each of the Kidou attacks that Zangetsu showed him, and now, all that was left was mastering their use in practical battle.

Getting up out of his position, he took in a fortifying breath before turning to face the awaiting figure of his companion. Jumping back to make some space between them, he readied himself as Zangetsu drew his sealed form out of thin air with a wicked and elegant flourish. With only a small smirk as warning, he was suddenly blurring across the distance between them.

Ichigo wasted no time in reacting.

Left hand flying up to buy himself some time, he pointed his left pointer and middle fingers at the approaching blur and said,

**Hadou no Yon: Byakurai**

While Zangetsu veered off to dodge the piercing bolt of lightning Ichigo took the chance to Shunpo away and suppress his reiatsu to give him some much needed few seconds.

Casting his senses out, Zangetsu prepared himself for the telltale spike in reiatsu that gave away all but the most practiced of Kidou users.

Sensing a surge of energy behind him, he spun, sword singing through the air on a sure part to cleave Ichigo in two from head to toe.

With a triumphant smirk on his face, Ichigo raised his right hand up to block the swing, taking pride in the widening of Zangetsu's narrowed eyes once the pale blue orb at the back of his palm became visible. With a slight hum, he said,

**Bakudou no Hachi: Seki**

As soon as the sword struck the orb, it was repelled with the same force with which it came down, throwing Zangetsu's right hand upwards and opening him up for attack.

Thrusting his right hand forward, Ichigo fired off the prepared red orb of fiery reiatsu while shouting out,

**Hadou no Sanjuuichi: Shakkahou**

Leaping back from the resulting explosion, Ichigo did not pause as he began another incantation under his breath, not naïve enough to believe that Zangetsu had been defeated by that manoeuver.

Indeed, Ichigo's only warning was the fluttering of a cloak before a sword passed through the air where his head had been an instant before.

From there, the two engaged in a Shunpo tag that saw Ichigo escaping by the skin of his teeth – sometimes only because Zangetsu let him. Whenever he could, he would fire off one Kidou spell or the other, learning which spells were appropriate for which situations on the fly.

Finally managing to put some significant distance between them, Ichigo rapidly formulated his final plan, knowing that his move would decide the outcome of the match.

Thrusting his hands down while watching the rapidly approaching form of his older companion, he intoned,

**Bakudou no Nijuuichi: Sekionton**

A sudden explosion of red smoke concealed him from view, forcing Zangetsu to halt in his charge, lest he walk into a trap.

Less than a second later, Ichigo's reiatsu spiked and a slightly underpowered ball of red flames roared out of the cloud of smoke towards Zangetsu.

With an almost lazy motion, he coated his sword with some reiatsu and swatted away the weak attack, idly wondering if his wielder was running out of energy or if he had been rushed.

As he moved to return his sword to his side, he found that he couldn't. Turning his head, he noticed a crackling yellow energy rope bound to the blade of his sword. Following it back to its origin, he locked gazes with his wielder. Tossing a glance at the now dissipated cloud of smoke, he saw that Ichigo was not there. His brows furrowed as he tried to reason out what had just happened, before the light of understanding dawned in his eyes, quickly followed by approval at his wielder's ingenuity.

Ichigo had fired off a weak attack, expecting Zangetsu to block it, thus forcing him to use some reiatsu to defend himself. He had then used the first surge of reiatsu produced by the initial Kidou attack to conceal his use of Shunpo, before using Zangetsu's own reiatsu use to disguise his use of **Bakudou no yon: Hainawa**.

Turning back to Ichigo, he experienced a slight feeling of dread at the smirk on the teen's face. With a slightly cheerful tone, Ichigo placed his free hand on the energy rope and said,

**Hadou no Juuichi: Tsuzuri Raiden **

Zangetsu's eyes widened as he took in the yellow lightning surging down the rope towards the sword. Suddenly, his face relaxed into a smile, and, noticing Ichigo's suddenly uncertain look, he twitched his hand and the sword held in it suddenly let loose a brilliant blue glow.

With Ichigo curiously looking on, and with the lighting attack seconds away from impacting, Zangetsu focused on the sword and _pushed_.

Now it was Ichigo's turn to show surprise as the elegant katana morphed into a wider blade, effortlessly cutting through the binding rope on its blade. As soon as the light died down, he beheld the new sword.

It was longer than the original sealed katana had been – he estimated that it was almost as long as he was tall, but now, its shape was significantly different. At a glance, the blade resembled a huge butcher's knife, however, the sword was more than that. Though it looked unwieldy, Zangetsu swung it around with poise and it sang through the air, weaving a melody of leashed power waiting to burst out and shake the very heavens.

Relaxing his stance, knowing that the spar was at its end, Ichigo made his way over to the older man, eyes still locked on what was undoubtedly his Shikai.

Zangetsu quietly observed his approaching wielder, searching the teen's eyes to glimpse his thoughts. He was pleased when he saw that Ichigo did not just dismiss the blade out of hand for its seemingly ungainly shape; if anything, he seemed to be thinking of ways to incorporate the sword's new design into his fighting style. Satisfied with what he read in his young companion's eyes, he spoke up,

"I had planned to wait until our next meeting, when we had more time, to reveal it to you, but once again, you exceed even my expectations, high as they are."

Choosing to overlook the light pleased blush stealing across Ichigo's face, he turned his now contemplative eyes back to the sword,

"In just a few weeks, you have already come so far and I know, without a doubt, that you are ready to move to the next level. Though we don't have much time, I can at least teach you how to call me forth, as well as begin your instruction in wielding me."

Reaching his own right hand forward, Ichigo focused his reiatsu and pulled his own sealed sword out of thin air. He watched as Zangetsu made his way towards him, standing behind Ichigo and placing his right hand on his left shoulder. Ichigo listened to Zangetsu's soothing tone as he spoke,

"To wield my Shikai, you must understand the essence of what I represent; the essence of who I am. This is something that I believe you have come to learn already."

With a nod at Zangetsu's words, Ichigo suddenly felt the world around him still in anticipation as reiatsu began to rise around the two figures. Zangetsu continued, his voice growing more powerful as he spoke, until the very air sang with his power,

"Abandon your fear Ichigo, and move forward. Never stand still, never look back. Retreat and you will age, hesitate, and you will die. Now, release me!"

And Ichigo, voice filled with power to match his zanpakuto, shouted to the heavens,

"Go forth, and tear the heavens asunder, Zangetsu!"

Once the bright explosion of light and reiatsu died down, Ichigo hefted the cleaver like sword in his hand, noticing that it felt as light as the sealed katana. Turning his gaze back to his older companion, he matched Zangetsu's anticipatory smile with one of his own, and suddenly surged forward to cross swords with him, injuries all but forgotten in the rush to spar with his newly released sword.

* * *

**A few notes, if I may. First of all, the Chad thing. I thought to myself: if I'm going to explore how the bleach world changes when faced with a different protagonist, why not really shake things up. A reader pointed out that I should avoid making Ichigo's companions seem like weaklings – sound advice which I intend on listening to. **

**Secondly, a few people have asked about his inner hollow…yes, he will still be there. In fact, I just recently had a moment of brilliance, if I do say so myself, and I made plans for said hollow…but that is a chapter for later.**

**Finally, I want to get to the bottom of this thing that people have been PM-ing me for; should I or should I not give Orihime her reality defying powers? There's a poll on my profile, please vote, and if you have a particularly compelling argument either way, kindly shoot me a message.**

**Please leave a comment if you can. Thank you for taking the time to read and review my story.**


	5. Rejecting Reality

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**AN: The premise for this story is a different Ichigo going through the events of the Bleach storyline. I aim to make him more cool headed, logical and just generally not a brash teen that rushes mindlessly into things. I would say that he would not become over powered, but then again, in a world where beings redefine landscapes with the swing of a sword, what is overpowered? Anyway, BAMF Ichigo**

* * *

Chad panted as he fought to recover from the recent onslaught of attacks. In front of him, his orange haired best friend was breathing somewhat heavier as well, though not as much as Chad. They had been sparring for the past two hours, with Ichigo fighting with his bare fists while Chad utilized his recently unlocked powers. It was the third week of June and Ichigo had wasted no time in getting Chad to train with his new powers. It was an added bonus that sparring with Chad gave him some measure of diversity since he had only previously ever sparred with Zangetsu.

After finally catching his breath, Chad walked over to sit beside Ichigo on the soft grass located on top of Ichigo's private hill.

Once more, he took the time to look around him, marveling at the perfect setup of Ichigo's chosen training location.

The first time that he had been shown the place, Ichigo had explained how his first sensei – the person who had taught him Tai Chi and hand-to-hand combat – had revealed the clearing to him, mentioning that he (the sensei) would be leaving for a long time and it would be a waste if no one put it to good use. Chad absently wondered where the man was; considering that he had played such a vital role in shaping Ichigo into the person he was today, he realized that he wouldn't mind meeting the man sometime in the future.

Still, his thoughts turned to the happenings of the past few days and with some remnants of his amusement from days ago, he recalled the incident with the _Mod Soul_, Kon.

Apparently, Kuchiki Rukia, in an effort to reduce Ichigo's dependency on her spirit glove whenever he needed to leave his body, as well as to prevent the attention garnered by his soulless body left lying about, had gone to some supernatural shopkeeper and purchased a Mod Soul Dispenser.

From what Ichigo had explained, Mod Souls were artificial souls created by the Soul Society for situations where a Shinigami had to leave his gigai, but without arousing the suspicion of the humans around. The souls came in the form of small spherical candies, which were swallowed, thus ejecting the Shinigami in soul form from the gigai, and replacing him with an artificial soul that would then go on to act like him for the duration that he was away.

However, things had not gone according to plan.

As Ichigo had explained, one of the Mod Souls – and coincidentally, the first one he had tried – had actually been a specialized combat soul created by the Soul Society for the purpose of being inserted into dead humans who would then fight alongside Shinigami. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, Soul Society had recognized the project as inhumane and moved to terminate it, as well as all artificial souls created for said project.

The mod soul in question had managed to escape and, after a period of time, had then found himself inside Ichigo's body. As soon as Ichigo had gotten far enough away, the soul had decided that since the cat was away, it was time to play.

Unfortunately for Ichigo, not only had the Mod Soul been a combat soul that was meant to have been destroyed – and was thus reasonably bitter and jaded, it was also something of a pervert…a masochistic pervert at that.

Well, fortunately for Ichigo, and his reputation, Chad had been paying attention to the mod soul, and had therefore been on hand to intervene before anything untoward could occur. Still, the soul had managed to give him the slip during lunch break, and had taken off at a speed that Chad had been unable to match at the time.

Still, Chad had later heard that the Mod Soul, Kon, had managed to save the lives of a few truant children by holding off a hollow long enough for Ichigo to arrive and purify it. Ichigo had then gone on to intervene when the shopkeeper showed up, wanting to take back the Mod Soul and destroy it.

Last he heard, Kon was now inhabiting the body of a lion doll, and spending most of his days being dressed up by Yuzu after Ichigo had appointed him the primary job of taking care of his sisters whenever he was in Ichigo's body.

What Chad, of course, could not have known about was the discussion Kon had had with Ichigo a few days after being adopted into the Kurosaki household.

_Ichigo suppressed another twitch as he once more felt the eyes of the lion doll on his body. He spared a moment to wonder why Kon had been staring at him for the past hour that he had been doing his school work. _

_He had assumed that they had both reached an understanding when Ichigo had told him in no uncertain terms – with his blood chilling glowing blue glare in place – that whenever he was inside Ichigo's body, his main priority would be the safety of his sisters. _

_He had also warned Kon off using his body to perv out on the females in the vicinity, causing the Mod Soul to sulk for a while. He had finally placated the irate soul by promising to purchase…adult…manga and novels for him, on the condition that he kept them where no one would discover them. Kon had been noticeably happy after that – and Ichigo could have sworn, though the lion doll would deny it, that he had caught the mod soul drooling at the thought of the literary materials._

_Finally fed up with the continued staring, he turned a slightly annoyed questioning stare on the now sheepish mod soul._

_Kon hesitated for a moment before visibly steeling himself and replying to the unspoken question,_

"_There's something…off…with your body."_

_Ichigo's face abruptly blanked at his words, causing him to falter slightly. Still, he gathered himself and forged on,_

"_When my kind was made, we were created with the ability to augment the base physical abilities of whichever body we inhabited at the time. For me in particular, my specialty was leg strength…running fast, jumping high, and kicking powerfully. But…but your body…your __**human**__ body was already strong…too strong and too fast.._._stronger than I could have made any normal body."_

_Kon could not have known that his words had reminded Ichigo of something he had read in one of the books his dad had given him. The passage had been on the topic of Zanpakuto spirits and the nameless Zanpakuto, called Asauchi. For some reason he could not fathom, the passage had bothered him, so much that even Zangetsu had picked up on his unease. Since he had been unable to put into words what bothered him, they had both agreed to ignore it until he was able to make sense of it._

_For a long moment, Ichigo had just silently looked at Kon, before he had turned back to his books with only two quiet words,_

"_I know"_

_And that had been that._

In the present, Chad shook off his distracted thoughts and, refocusing on the matter at hand, prepared to move onto the next set of exercises with Ichigo…playing tag.

He turned to face the now standing Ichigo and gave a nod to show that he was ready.

Suddenly, Ichigo blurred from his position, traveling at such high speeds that his form was almost indistinguishable to the naked eye. The first day that they had begun his speed training, Chad had been unable to even follow Ichigo's high speed, but now, his eyes managed to track him enough that he avoided the first tap, feeling the wind rush by in the wake of the fast moving teen.

He spun around to prepare for the next move and gathered his reiatsu as he had been practicing, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. As soon as he noticed a flicker in the corner of his eye, he spun and unleashed the gathered reiatsu, creating a huge blue torrent of energy, which missed Ichigo by a reasonable margin.

Not one to be deterred, Chad unleashed the same attack, again, and again, and again, each time getting closer and closer to nailing the orange haired teen as his eyes adapted to be able to track Ichigo's speed.

On and on, they continued, with Chad continually attempting to hit Ichigo while also avoiding getting tagged in turn. A few minutes into the exercise, Chad had been forced to start moving as well – though nowhere near the speed of Ichigo's Shunpo, he was still significantly faster than he had been before.

Finally, almost an hour after beginning the chase, and three hours after the start of everything, Chad was just about ready to drop, all his energy having been spent. Still, he was determined to make one last bid for success.

Stumbling forward as though he were completely spent, he dropped to one knee and panted, all the while keeping his senses on full alert for Ichigo to exploit his apparent weakness.

Right on cue, he felt a rapidly approaching body from his left, and after timing it just right, he surged to his feet and swung his armored right hand, intending to snatch Ichigo out of the air.

It was like the whole world slowed down.

Chad's eyes widened as he noticed that Ichigo had apparently expected his trap, judging from the fact that the teen was currently hanging upside down, having just flipped as he approached Chad.

Chad could do nothing as his fist sailed harmlessly below Ichigo, whose right pointer finger came up to gently poke Chad's forehead in a parody of a kill shot.

Abruptly, everything sped up again and Chad found himself stumbling for real after failing to connect the powerful blow that he had just launched. Once he regained his footing, he turned to find Ichigo looking back at him with a faint smile on his face.

It was only then that he fully allowed himself to relax, crumbling in place to end up seated on the soft grass; they were done for the day.

As was usually the case, Ichigo and Chad spent the next few minutes discussing Chad's performance and pointing out areas of improvement, mainly in the areas of utilizing his reiatsu to bolster his speed. Once they were done with that bit, Chad reclined fully as he waited for his severely depleted stores of reiatsu to regenerate.

In the meantime, Ichigo assumed his usual pose for Jinzen and smoothly transitioned from the outside world into his inner world.

Suddenly, he was ducking and rolling away from a powerful slash as Zangetsu attacked in a flurry of black and silver. With but a thought, his own fully released blade was in his right hand and on a path to intercept another attack.

He was no longer fazed by such an assault since Zangetsu had taken to surprising Ichigo like this in an effort to keep him on his toes and to hone his instincts and situational awareness.

Back and forth, they danced in a shower of sparks to the tune of lethal blades singing through the air and metal clanging off metal.

At the one hour mark, they began to trade Kido attacks as well, introducing variety into their battle.

It all drew to an end two and half hours later when Ichigo stumbled in fatigue – the toll of fighting with Chad for hours, and then with Zangetsu for even more finally showing up. It was enough of an opening for Zangetsu to disarm him and freeze him with his sword's tip at Ichigo's throat.

With a pleased nod of approval, Zangetsu stepped back and offered his now free hand to his prone wielder. Ichigo accepted the boost into an upwards position and settled down on the roof of the building they had been fighting on.

The two males took the time to catch their breath and recover from their trying bout – even Zangetsu found himself out of breath and a little scuffed up, a testament to his wielder's exponentially growing skill.

Ichigo, for his part, was lost in thought, caught in a flow of memories from years past. He let loose a soul weary sigh as he thought to himself,

"_It's that time of the year again_."

Tomorrow was the anniversary of his mother's death.

Zangetsu cast his gaze on the teen sitting at the edge, just beside his standing form, easily picking up on the storm of his thoughts. His eyes travelled heavenwards as he spied the formation of a scant few number of clouds.

Wordlessly, he dropped his left hand onto the orange locks by his side and remained silent when he felt the teen tense up beside him…as well as when said teen then relaxed against his legs, taking comfort from his ever steady presence.

He merely let loose a pleased hum as the clouds all vanished completely, leaving only a cool breeze and bright sun in their wake.

Together, the two companions silently observed the serenity of Ichigo's inner world, basking in the peace and calm that permeated Zangetsu's domain.

* * *

Yuzu bustled around the kitchen as she put the finishing touches on the picnic meals that she and the rest of her family would be enjoying soon. As her body moved through the long since memorized motions of preparing the meal, her mind began to wander into memories of times passed.

She had been very young – _too young_ – when their mother had been ripped away from their family. Most of what she could remember was the ache of eyes being forced to produce more tears than they could handle; the feelings of loss as she had to come to terms with the fact that there would no longer be that soft and warm body to catch her as she ran forward for a hug; and above all, the soul deep fear as she wondered if her sister would be taken from her too…her brother…her father?

Some scant few days into their family's mourning, she had looked up at the overcast skies and thought, with a sudden viciousness that was so unlike her,

_Good…the sun shouldn't be shining on anyone anymore_.

As she had felt Karin startle beside her, she had realized that she must have spoken that thought out loud. She remembered that she had ignored Karin's shocked look, eyes unable to turn away from the heavens which shed the tears that she was unable to.

And then, on one of the days when she had taken to staring out at a grey world as the rain beat a relentless rhythm, she had felt hands – _strong and gentle…and warm_ – encircle her and hold her tight.

At first, she had been surprised, having not expected the hug. Then, to her further surprise, she had felt the wall of shock that had blocked off her pain, crack and crumble before the tide of her grief. It was there, in the embrace of her big brother that she had finally broken down and wept for the mother that would never smile at her, never hold her and tell her it would be alright.

She had cried so hard that when she was done, she had ended up with a headache and sore eyes. Yet, through her pain, her beloved older brother had been there, waiting for both her and Karin when they woke up, and tucking them into bed when they went to sleep. It had taken weeks, but eventually, Yuzu had found herself able to laugh again…able to smile…able to _live_.

Her healing had been further bolstered when Ichigo had begun allowing her perform little things in the kitchen as he went about learning to cook for the rest of the family, as well as clean up after them and generally take care of both herself and Karin.

Now, years later, whenever she prepared a meal, no matter who it was for, she did it for the brother who had put her world back together when it had been broken apart that rainy night years ago.

* * *

Ichigo dropped into a squat as he gently put Yuzu down; having carried her the rest of the way to their mother's grave. Instinctively, he held out his hands to both of his sisters, choosing not to comment on how fast Karin was to grasp his offered hand. Together, with Isshin following close behind, the Kurosaki siblings moved forwards to kneel at Masaki's gravestone to begin their yearly family ritual.

As always, Yuzu was the one to go first, then Karin, then Ichigo, and finally, Isshin. One by one, they all told Masaki about the important things that had happened to them in the past year. While they spoke, Yuzu passed out sandwiches and drinks to the others as Isshin spread out the mat by the grave. The family was lucky that the weather of the day was unusually clear and bright.

For what felt like hours, the Kurosaki family shared their lives with their departed but ever present mother, basking in the feelings of togetherness that their yearly ritual always inspired.

Once they were done, Ichigo left his sisters with Isshin, knowing that Yuzu and Karin would spend the time changing the flowers by their mother's grave – a sort of sister bonding thing, while Isshin would keep watch over them. He picked up one of the remaining sandwiches and a drink, and made his way to a clearing not far from where he was.

* * *

Rukia startled as she suddenly heard someone coming to a stop a few feet from her. Slowly, while admonishing herself for getting caught off guard, she turned to find Ichigo holding out a sandwich and a bottle in her direction with a raised eyebrow.

Accepting the offerings with a grateful nod, she made way for him on the bench she was seated on. As she worked on opening her meal, Ichigo spoke, causing her to tense momentarily,

"I see that your powers have still not returned."

Noticing her still from the corner of his eyes, Ichigo continued,

"In fact, if anything, they seem to be diminishing even more."

As he finished speaking, he turned to find Rukia frozen with a slightly pale face and widened eyes.

Noticing that he was looking at her, Rukia knew that she really ought not to bother with lying, and so, she gave a jerky nod.

Ichigo let loose a weary sigh and asked,

"Do you have any idea why that might be the case?"

Slightly relaxing as her fears of Ichigo reacting badly to the apparent extension of his substitute duties were proven unfounded, Rukia turned her attention towards providing an answer to his question.

Finally, she responded with,

"I can't say for sure. All I can think of is that my absence from a reiatsu rich environment like Soul Society is to blame."

Ichigo, however, noticed that even as she spoke, her doubt was clearly audible.

With a nod at her response, since it was the most logical one so far, he prepared to ask her another question when a scream pierced through the air.

By the time Rukia had understood what she had just heard, Ichigo was halfway across the clearing, feet practically not touching the ground as he blazed a trail straight back to his sisters.

He slid to a stop at the top of the stairs leading down to where he had left his family.

In the blink of an eye, he took in the scene.

His dad was passed out against a demolished headstone, and Karin and Yuzu suspended in the grasp of a relatively large and powerful hollow.

Rukia came upon scene in time to witness a black clad Ichigo deliver a stunning double stomp to the face of the hollow, while a normal clad Ichigo caught the suddenly dropped Kurosaki twins.

A few moments was all it took for her to realize that Ichigo had swallowed Kon's pill – having taken to carrying it around in small dispenser whenever he intended to leave the house with both his sisters.

Immediately, Kon was diving backwards, effortlessly clearing the distance in a display of superhuman agility, to land beside Rukia. With a jerk of his head, he passed an unconscious Karin to her and spun in time to catch an airborne Isshin tossed by Ichigo.

All of that took a scant few seconds.

Still feeling off balance by the recent fast paced events, Rukia turned back to Ichigo just to watch him grab the hollow by one of its trailing tendons and leap away, clearly intending to take the battle away from them.

Kon, just finally relaxing from the last stressful seconds, flinched as Rukia gasped beside him, her faintly spoken words only just reaching him,

"That was the Grand Fisher."

* * *

The hollow known as Grand Fisher stumbled back to his feet from the small crater that had been made when the shinigami had slammed him into the ground. Finally regaining his bearings, he cast his gaze around the new clearing he found himself in, looking for the brat who had dared to manhandle him.

Once his eyes landed on the orange haired figure, he took an unconscious step back at the look in the person's eyes.

Ichigo was barely breathing as he observed the hollow standing before him. Though his body was there, his mind was lost in memories of six years past.

There was no way he would have failed to recognize the figure before him.

At the edge of his perception, he heard hurried footsteps approaching the clearing, instinctively stretching out his senses to confirm that they belonged to Rukia.

Not letting his attention stray, he spoke up, voice empty of anything but the sound carrying it,

"You…you're the hollow from six years ago."

Grand Fisher tilted his head in curiosity, wondering at what the kid before him meant. Putting his words from his mind, he prepared to taunt the Shinigami when his voice died before leaving his throat as he finally felt…_tasted_…the reiatsu being released by his opponent.

His eyes widened in glee as he spoke,

"Ho…I remember now…you're that brat from the river…Normally, I don't bother to remember guys, but the woman who was with you was particularly tasty."

At that last bit, Ichigo stilled completely, not even seeming to breathe – a fact which the hollow picked up on.

"I wonder…was she your sister? No, I know, your mother."

Completely focused on the person before him, Grand Fisher did not even pick up on the muted gasp from the bushes at the edge of the clearing.

Rukia had a hand over her mouth as she stared with saddened eyes at the motionless form of her orange haired friend.

During one of the many times they hung out together, Ichigo had told her about his mother and about the fact that she had been killed six years ago. He had not said it at the time, but she had gotten the feeling that Ichigo suspected what the cause of death had been. Now, she watched as the thing that had destroyed the center of Ichigo's world taunted him.

Ichigo, whose head had been down with his hair shadowing his eyes, raised his gaze to lock with the black and yellow eyes of the monster before him.

In the face of Ichigo's look, Grand Fisher found his mocking smile slowly dimming until he was left staring back at the orange haired Shinigami's blank gaze.

Suddenly, the clearing erupted in a furious storm of powerful reiatsu, and Grand Fisher, a hollow responsible for the death of numerous Shinigami's – seated officers amongst them – found himself choking on the amount of _fury_ that saturated the very air. So powerful was the reiatsu that the air seemed to distort around Ichigo's form as the intensity of his reiatsu warped the region around him.

In the bushes, Rukia struggled to remain in place as the full weight of Ichigo's power bore down on her shoulders. Just when she thought that she would falter, a hand landed on her shoulder, causing her to flinch in shock and turn to the newcomer.

Her face paled as she took in the shihakusho clad male beside her, until she noticed that he was countering Ichigo's reiatsu. Deciding to focus on the pressing issue at hand, she turned her eyes back on the battle in time to witness Ichigo's opening salvo.

With a boom, the ground Ichigo was standing on cratered under the force of his push off. Vanishing from view for a second, Ichigo appeared beside Grand Fisher with his sword already in a completed swing.

Grand Fisher only had time to blink before his left arm went sailing across the clearing, leaving a bloody stump in its wake.

With a howl of pain and rage, he threw himself back away from his attacker, working to suppress the pain of his suddenly removed limb and regenerate it.

Ichigo dispassionately watched the hollow as it retreated from him. His rage had gone beyond volcanic and had crystalized into a cold and focused fury which left his mind unburdened and his goal crystal clear.

The hollow would die…after suffering first.

With a surge of malicious reiatsu, Grand Fisher regrew the missing limb and flexed it to reassure himself that it was still there.

Turning his now seething gaze on the still blank Ichigo, he snarled out,

"So you managed to wound me. Don't get cocky, you little shit! I've been eating Shinigami more powerful than you since before you were born!"

With that last statement shouted out, his reiatsu exploded around him as he launched a barrage of sharp tipped tentacles at Ichigo.

The attack punched through the air where Ichigo's torso had been seconds before as Ichigo executed a smooth twirl around the assault.

With the tentacles now right of him, his sword flashed through the air once, effortless cleaving through the barrage of tentacles and leaving Grand Fisher once more howling in pain.

Still, Ichigo was not done; his left hand lashed out to grab one of the retreating tentacles and as Grand Fisher's eyes widened in fear, he yanked on it with reiatsu infused strength.

Helplessly, the hollow sailed through the air towards the Shinigami, but in the instant before he reached him, his hair suddenly puffed up and lashed out.

Ichigo rolled forward under the airborne hollow, consequently avoiding the spiked hair surging towards him.

He came up out of his roll in a standing position facing the place where Grand Fisher had just crashed into.

Grand Fisher choked on blood as the cut Ichigo had made while he rolled under him bled profusely.

With a heave of effort, he staggered back to his feet in the cloud of dust kicked up by his impact with the ground.

For the first time in fifty-four years, he found himself at risk of losing a battle with a Shinigami. He wondered how he could turn the tide and reclaim victory, before he suddenly perked up as an idea came to him, causing his face to break out in a truly malicious smile.

Rukia felt the surprise coming off the Shinigami crouching next to her, and found that she could hardly blame him.

Grand Fisher was a hollow well known by the Soul Society to be a foe beyond the ken of most Shinigami, some of whom were seated officers themselves. And yet, here was a human teen who had been a Shinigami for a mere month going toe to toe with the hollow and coming out on top.

She quickly refocused on the battle as the cloud of dust cleared up, and she found herself muffling another gasp.

As the cloud slowly cleared, the first thing that came into view was the smug grin on the pale mask of the hollow before him. Before he could wonder at the cause for the smile, the reason revealed itself.

Standing in front of the hollow, facing towards Ichigo, was the serenely smiling form of Masaki Kurosaki.

The beautiful vision before him hit like a punch to the gut. He stumbled back in shock as Masaki took a step forward, hand outstretched, lovingly beckoning him in death as she had in life.

The storm of reiatsu that had been raging around the teen flickered and then promptly died out as the image before him further damaged his already unstable mentality caused by being forced to face the thing that had killed his mother.

Grand Fisher's smile widened even further as he saw the effect the dead woman had on his foe. He took a hesitant step forward, gauging the teen's reaction and promptly had to fight down a delighted cackle when the teen failed to react to his move.

He shifted his stance in preparation to bring their match to a bloody and satisfying close, completely ignorant of what was happening within Ichigo.

Ichigo felt a rising miasma of cloying grief, debilitating rage, and paralyzing fear clawing its way up his throat. He knew that he was mere moments away from losing it and throwing everything away without thinking.

Just as he felt the last of his self-control snap, he found himself rapidly blinking as his eyes sought to adapt to the sudden brightness of the day.

His gaze trailed upwards to take in the turbulent clouds in the sky of his inner world.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder but resisted turning to face his older companion – he did not want to see the disappointment that must be on Zangetsu's face at his falling into despair.

He felt as Zangetsu let loose an exasperated sigh before he shifted.

Ichigo sucked in startled breath as gentle and strong arms came up to wrap him in a comforting hug.

He choked on air as he fought – _and failed_ – to keep in the fury of emotions threatening to overwhelm him, and through it all, was Zangetsu's unwavering comfort.

Slowly, after an eternal minute, the tide of _grief_ _pain loss_ _anger_ faded, leaving Ichigo completely spent and yet surprisingly lighthearted.

With a faint nudge from his older companion, and a deep breath on his part, he felt his consciousness fade out from his inner world and opened his eyes to find the Grand Fisher leering back at him…not a second had passed.

From the depths of his soul, he felt a warm and soothing wave washing over him and Zangetsu's voice saying,

"_Look upon the sight before you Ichigo; look beyond the surface and tell me what you really see._"

Ichigo's eyes slowly rose, taking in the beautiful face, loving smile, bright orange hair, and then finally meeting her eyes.

Their eyes held for the space of a heartbeat, before Ichigo exhaled and slumped in one part realization and three parts relief.

That was not his mother.

No matter how perfect Grand Fisher's mimicry of his mother's visage was, he had failed to mirror the most defining trait of a living Kurosaki Masaki – the love her eyes always held when looking on one of her own.

Though the smile aimed at him was his mother's, the empty gaze – devoid of soul and emotion – was the pathetic imitation of a being that could not even begin to grasp the emotion that was love.

With that realization, Ichigo felt himself calm as the weight of having to fight what he thought to be his mother fell off his shoulders.

He straightened and fixed the hollow before him with a Look that caused it still in its subtle advance.

From her crouched position in the bushes, Rukia watched with no small amount of confusion as Ichigo seemed to freeze for an instant as he was faced with the visage of his late mother, before all the tension abruptly left his body when his eyes met the woman's.

She observed as he straightened in place and gathered his strength around him as he seemingly caught his second wind. She leaned forward as she began to pick up a faint increase in reiatsu from Ichigo, though not yet up to the level it had been before.

She felt herself stiffen as Ichigo's voice softly travelled through the clearing, stilling the air with lethality of a cold blade held to one's throat,

"You…are the most despicable type of trash that exists…an abomination in a world already filled with its own brand of monsters."

Grand Fisher's eyes flashed with maddened rage at the audacity of the child before him. His voice, when he responded, reflected the insanity that lurked in his black and yellow eyes,

"You, how dare you try to judge me?! Right now, you intend to continue fighting me don't you? Then doesn't that mean that you are going to harm your mother again, huh? How can you call me a monster when you already plan to - urk"

Grand Fisher's tirade abruptly cut off in a muted snarl of pain as Ichigo twisted the blade currently plunged into his gut.

In retaliation, the hollow lashed out with a powerful punch only to freeze as Ichigo effortlessly caught it in his left hand.

Looking into the reiatsu-blue eyes of his opponent, Grand Fisher began to understand that he had bitten off more than he could chew.

With merely a tensing of his muscles as warning, Ichigo clenched the arm in his grasp in preparation to rip it off when he felt a gentle touch on his face.

Grand Fisher, who had begun to doubt the wisdom of engaging the teen, regained his confidence as he noticed Ichigo's pause. Not wasting anytime, he manipulated the lure into speaking, hoping to create an opening he could exploit.

In a gentle tone, the clone of Kurosaki Masaki said,

"Ichigo, enough, you can stop fighting now…you couldn't save me then, and you can't save me now."

As Rukia heard the woman's damaging words, she made an aborted motion, as though to go to Ichigo, when she felt a hand grip her arm, holding her in place. Turning back to the scene unfolding before her, she prepared to shout out as she took in Grand Fisher's shifting in anticipation of an opening in Ichigo's defenses – an opening that was almost certain to exist after what the woman had just said.

She should have learnt by now not to assume she knew what Ichigo would do.

Grand Fisher, expecting the kid to wince or something, was taken aback and a little afraid as he watched a small smile break out on the Shinigami's face. His confusion was replaced by the realization that he had probably just made his last mistake as Ichigo spoke,

"If I was still unsure about you, that would have settled it for me."

Slowly, following some instinct he couldn't even begin to understand, his left hand released the hollow's fist and rose to gently touch the cheek of the woman before him, mirroring her own position. With a slight smile on his face as he spoke, he watched the other woman closely, taking in the way her own smile fell off her face to be replaced by a panicked look before that too fell away,

"There is no way that the real Masaki would blame me for her death. You are not _my mother_."

Rukia twitched as she felt a sharp pulse of reiatsu spreading from Ichigo's hand and she heard her surprised inhale echoed by the person beside her as they all watched the features of the orange haired woman distort and then fall away to reveal a blank and featureless life-sized doll.

Grand Fisher screamed in rage at being thwarted, but before he could react, the blade still sticking in him was suddenly ripped out, causing him to stumble at the renewed pain. Just as he began to frantically shunt reiatsu towards his grievous wound, it became a moot point.

The sound of a blade singing through the air preceded the crack of bone succumbing to a superior force, and once that sound had settled, Rukia felt her mouth open in disbelief.

Ichigo's broad katana was sticking out of Grand Fisher's forehead, with the teen himself suspended in a hand stand with his right hand on the sword's handle.

Then with a roar of effort, he brought his feet crashing down onto the edge of the sword sticking out of the mask, forcefully driving it down and through the hollow, finally cleaving him in two.

With a sound like a click, the bisected body of the hollow formerly known as Grand Fisher fell into two parts in a spray of blood and gore, impacting the ground with a dull thud.

Ichigo, back turned to the rapidly dissolving spirit particles of the corpse behind him, turned his head to the sky as he felt a soothing peace spreading through his soul, feeling but not paying heed to the single tear drop that trailed a lonely path down his right cheek.

* * *

Seating beside his wife's grave, Kurosaki Isshin tensed for an instant as he held the sleeping forms of his twin daughters in his hands, before his head bowed as he felt the reiatsu of the hollow vanish from his still weak senses.

In his arms, the two sisters stirred to wakefulness at the same time as they felt a few tears impacting their head. As one, they slowly moved forward and enfolded their father in a hug, not knowing the reason for his tears, but doing all they could to show him their love for him.

In the loving embrace of his girls, Kurosaki Isshin finally let his guilt and regret flow out in the form of tears, leaving the peace and contentment of his late wife's love…she was finally free.

* * *

Kuchiki Rukia stared out at the overcast skies from Ichigo's window. The teen in question was currently in the process of tucking his sisters into bed, leaving her with that little window of solitude.

With a fond smile on her face, she reminisced on all the memories she had created with the surprising orange haired teen; truly, Ichigo was a rare individual.

She let loose a slight chuckle as she recalled how she and his sisters had teased him using Don Kanonji's truly obnoxious signature pose and laughter.

Ironically, the media sensation had actually encountered a real live hollow – or what was about to be one anyway – during his show, but luckily, Ichigo had wasted no time in performing Konsou on the bound soul before it could fully devolve into a monster, even if he had been forced to _gently_ nudge Kanonji out of the way.

A snort escape her as she recalled the spectators' reactions to the sight of Kanonji sailing through the air from some unseen force; instead of running away like normal people, they had surged forward in heightened interest…truly, humans were a curious sort.

Still, it wasn't all pleasant memories of the past month; the encounter with the investigating Shinigami on the anniversary of Kurosaki Masaki's death still left Rukia feeling dry mouthed.

It didn't help matters that the scout had witnessed Ichigo slay a hollow that had plagued soul society for over half a century. Nonetheless, the Shinigami had been unusually sympathetic, leaving her with a comment that had inspired some little hope in her, despite the grim situation she had found herself in,

"Kuchiki-san, you know how the higher ups feel about what you did with your powers. Furthermore, you know I have no choice but to report it, even though this was just a routine checkup mission; I will have to put it in my report…but you know how the captains are with their paperwork, it will take weeks before they get round to reviewing such a _low priority_ report."

With those parting words, and a small mischievous smile in her direction, the shinigami had vanished through a senkaimon, headed for Soul Society.

Though the man had been kind enough, they had both known that he had only been delaying the inevitable; they would come for her, and when they did, she only hoped – and she knew by now that it was futile – that Ichigo would be kept apart from the whole mess.

The opening of the door behind her shook her out of her thoughts and as she spun to face the entering teen, she hurried to wipe her previous thoughts from her face.

The narrowing of his eyes let her know she had failed.

Ichigo paused in the doorway as he took in the barely hidden traces of anxiety on his friend's face before he fully entered his room and shut the door behind him with a sigh.

Making his way to his bed, he plopped down and turned his serious hazel gaze on her, simply asking,

"How long?"

Rukia flinched, before hastily moving to reassure him that she had everything in hand – already knowing that she would only be wasting her time as she tried to deny his suspicions.

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about? There's nothing wrong. I can handle it."

Ichigo merely let her finish her hurried response before fixing her with an expectant look and waiting.

She broke first.

She sighed resignedly and sunk into the seat facing Ichigo's bed. Closing her eyes, she spoke softly,

"At the most, a month…from the day with Grand Fisher."

Ichigo's eyes slid shut at her words, while his mind began furiously working to find ways to –

"Don't! Don't get involved with this, Ichigo!"

Startled, his eyes snapped open and locked onto Rukia's suddenly blazing violet orbs. A determined gleam entered his own furious eyes, which easily matched hers in sheer obstinacy.

In his gaze, Rukia read his determination to be there for her when it all came crashing down, and perhaps for the first time, she understood what Orihime had been trying to tell her a few weeks ago,

"_I could learn that the world is ending tomorrow and I wouldn't be afraid, because I would __**know**__ that Ichigo would be there._"

She gave a weary sort of sigh, and said,

"I know that you want to help me, but you would be helping me more if you tried to stay away when they finally come for me."

Ichigo clenched his jaw, and gritted out,

"And when they come for you, what are they going to do?"

Silently looking at the teen before her, she considered…for one fleeting moment…she considered lying, but then, she gave him the truth,

"What I did, so many nights ago, is considered treason."

Ichigo froze as he felt the very air in his lungs still. Then, without any warning whatsoever, he surged to his feet in a towering rage, oblivious to Rukia's flinch at the sudden motion.

Furiously, he paced across the room, working to contain the sudden bout of anger he was feeling, determined not to let his reiatsu leak and disturb his sleeping sisters.

When he was finally assured that he had some measure of control over himself, he ground out in a tone dripping with lethal intent,

"They would…kill you…for doing your job, for saving lives?!"

Instead of answering, Rukia merely turned her gaze outside, which was answer enough.

Abruptly, Ichigo slumped in place as all the wind fled his sails, leaving him feeling empty. However, before he could join Rukia in feeling hopeless, he felt a gentle wave of warmth and support from his soul, and he suddenly drew up, gathering his determination around him once more, and causing Rukia to look at him with something other than the helpless sorrow previously in her eyes.

Fixing her with a Look, Ichigo was unaware of the fact that his eyes had begun to glow blue as he vowed,

"If you think that I will stand aside while some uptight, delusional little pissant tries to execute you for doing something that they couldn't…wouldn't do…then you have another thing coming."

And somehow, despite knowing that Ichigo couldn't possibly hope to stand against the entire might of Soul Society, she found herself unable to deny the faint feelings of hope kindling in her soul.

* * *

The opening of the only door to the room failed to draw the bespectacled gaze of the room's sole occupant from the reports before him. Speaking in his customary charming tone, he inquired,

"Are there any new developments?"

With an obscenely vulpine grin on his face, Ichimaru Gin spoke to his brown haired boss,

"Yeah actually; apparently, Grand Fisher bit off more than he could chew."

Now raising his eyes from the droll reports, he focused on his subordinate with an interested smile on his face.

Gin barely suppressed the shiver that threatened to crawl up his spine at being the subject of the other captain's gaze.

In a casual tone, Sousuke Aizen inquired,

"And, why are we just learning of this?"

Feeling his grin freeze on his face, Gin was proud of the fact that his voice still came out sounding normal,

"No idea, I just learnt it from some loud member of the Second Division. For some reason, it has just recently become common knowledge. Though, I have no idea why the cameras didn't catch it."

Letting out a contemplative hum, Aizen finally smiled as his mind came up with a possible explanation. More amused than anything else, he turned back to face Gin, feeling the ominously gentle smile on his face widen as his accomplice took an involuntary step back.

"Hmmm…he is growing better than I expected…_much, much better_."

* * *

In the shadow of the tall building next to him, the stranger felt his captured prey wiggle in his hand. Clenching his fist, his ears picked up the crackling of the object as it was crushed by his superhuman strength. Letting his fist unclench, his sharp grey eyes followed the smashed remnants of the reconnaissance device.

With his task done, he spun and vanished from the alley he had stood in, the flutter of his white and green jacket, and the _click-clack_ of his wooden sandals, the only proof that he had been there moments before.

* * *

Ichigo, Chad, and Rukia made their way towards Karakura Middle School to watch Karin's soccer match. Chad had accepted Ichigo's invitation to hand out with him and Rukia, while Orihime waited with Tatsuki who had Karate practice that day.

Earlier that day, the results of their exams had been posted and the majority of his class had once more been stunned by Ichigo's performance; somehow, no matter how they looked at it, they just couldn't wrap their heads around someone like him coming in at third place in their year, just behind Orihime and Ishida Uryuu.

Keigo had wasted no time in bemoaning that fact, an issue further aggravated by Chad's similarly impressive position of tenth place. As was par for the course, he had been summarily ignored.

Now, as the three classmates made their way to their destination, Ichigo and Chad shared a slightly amused look, before abruptly drawing to a halt, startling Rukia who overshot them.

Before she could express her indignation at the sudden stop, Ichigo spoke into the empty air before him, tone unmistakably amused,

"Is there something I can help you with, Ishida-san?"

Whirling as she picked up soft footsteps, Rukia's eyes landed on a slim bespectacled brunet, absently noting that he was in the same class as them.

Ishida Uryuu's slender hand came up to adjust his perpetually slipping glasses, resulting in an ominous flash of reflected light off of them.

With a slightly haughty and contemptuous tone that hid his surprise at being found out, he responded,

"I'm surprised you sensed me, Shinigami."

Neither Ichigo nor Chad, who had turned to face the newcomer, visibly reacted to his words, though their eyes gained hardened glints in them. Rukia, on the other hand, couldn't keep herself from tensing at Ishida's words, her surprise at his knowledge of Ichigo's identity visible. Continuing on before any of the three could respond, he said,

"Though, perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised, considering how much better you have gotten at keeping your reiatsu under control over the years."

Ichigo merely raised an eyebrow as he interpreted that to mean that Ishida had been sensing him for years now, given that his reiatsu output a while back had been unregulated.

Deciding to finally contribute to the discussion, Ichigo replied,

"That still doesn't answer my question...is there something I can help you with, Ishida-san?"

For a moment, Ishida was quiet, leading the three friends to believe that he would fail to respond, before he spoke softly in answer to Ichigo's question,

"You know...of all the beings in this world, there is none more despicable than a Shinigami."

At the focused hatred in his voice, Chad and Rukia shifted in caution, both wondering if the teen was about to do something drastic.

Ignoring the tensing of the two beside him, Ichigo simply met the burning gaze of the brunet before him, remaining silent in the face of Ishida's hateful words.

Suddenly, Ishida tilted his head to the side, as though listening to a faraway sound, before he smoothly raised his left hand and spun to the right, while spreading his legs in a perfectly balanced archer's stance.

Just as Rukia was about to question his action, her eyes were drawn to the gleaming silver cross on the teen's wrist as it tinkled like a small bell. Before anything else could be said, all three classmates twitched as a crackling bow made of blue **Reishi **(Spirit Particles) suddenly erupted into existence in Ishida's left hand.

Gracefully drawing the bow, a matching blue arrow flashed into existence, before it was released, sailing through the air with the effortless ease of a hot knife slicing through butter.

Following the trajectory of the projectile with their eyes, Chad, Ichigo, and Rukia watched as it pierced the head of a hollow that had suddenly materialized some distance away.

Hearing the sound of the bow being dismissed, they turned back to watching Ishida, and it was Rukia who was the first to react the recent events, disbelief evident in her voice,

"You...you must be a Quincy."

Smirking softly at the Shinigami, he responded in a sardonic tone,

"Correct, Shinigami Kuchiki Rukia. I am a Quincy, a mortal enemy of the Shinigami."

At that, his hands swiftly came back up with his suddenly materialized bow in them, an arrow knocked and steadily trained on Ichigo's chest.

Chad made as though to move forward, but a slight gesture from Ichigo had him subsiding, though he did clench his fist in preparation to intervene at a moment's notice.

Instead of reacting defensively to Ishida's blatant threat, Ichigo said,

"You know, that is all very interesting, yet, you still haven't told me what you want with me."

Conscious of – yet choosing to ignore – Rukia's confused look at him seemingly being obtuse, Ichigo patiently waited for Ishida to answer him.

Taking a moment to consider the perplexing orange haired teen before him, Ishida found himself slowly dropping his hand and dismissing his bow. Still unsure of Ichigo's unexpected reactions, he wondered if there was something wrong with the teen that he would fail to react to someone pointing a bow at him.

Ichigo continued to wait for Ishida to respond as he contemplated the teen before him. Before he had learned to be perceptive and observant, he would have simply reacted brashly to Ishida's blatant threat and moved to clash with him. Now, however, he had seen and interpreted the look of anger, hurt, pain, and loss in the other teen's eyes, and going on some instinct, which Zangetsu also approved of, he was trying to see if he could reach out to boy who was hurting just as he had once been hurting.

Finally deciding to dismiss his reservations, Ishida took a single step forward and, reaching into his pocket to bring out a trinket, spoke to the others,

"Why don't we have a duel, you and I? I'll show you just how superfluous Shinigami really are."

Rukia's startled gasp had Ichigo aiming a questioning look at her.

With a noticeably surprised voice, she said,

"That's a Hollow Bait."

With his eyes sharpening at her response, and his quick mind making the appropriate deductions, he slowly asked,

"And…just what…do you plan to do with that?"

With a superior smirk on his face, Ishida replied,

"I will crush this and lure a number of hollows here, the one who kills the most within 24 hours wins."

Ichigo was silent as his penetrating gaze rested on the teen in front of him, before he slightly shook his head with a soft chuckle, and a faint feeling of disappointment, and promptly turned away from Ishida, while tossing over his shoulder,

"Thanks, but no thanks."

With a look of anger on his face at being so callously dismissed, Ishida stepped forward and snarled,

"Are you such a coward that you are unable to lift a finger without Kuchiki Rukia's permission?"

Seeing Ichigo freeze in his departure, Ishida allowed his smirk to reappear on his face, before it was abruptly wiped off by Ichigo's words,

"Actually, it just occurred to me that if you are willing to endanger this town, and all the innocents in it, over something like your pride, then you are lower than the Shinigami you so despise."

His piece said, Ichigo continued walking away, once more joined by a stoic Chad and a hesitant Rukia.

Behind them, Ishida Uryuu remained frozen as Ichigo's words penetrated his mind, sparking off a rage the likes of which he hadn't felt since he had watched his grandfather die due to the failings of the Shinigami.

Up ahead, the three teens stopped as they felt the storm of angry reiatsu rising behind them. With a resigned sigh, and somehow knowing what was about to happen, Ichigo turned to face the now blank faced Ishida just in time to watch him crush the bait he held in his hand.

Instantly, his senses went haywire with the emergence of a significant number of hollows into the air around them.

Not hesitating for a moment, his hand plunged into his pocket to retrieve the dispenser that he had begun using to transport Kon outside the house.

Swallowing the pill, Ichigo immediately began speaking to Chad, Rukia, and Kon,

"We have to make sure that we protect as many people as possible."

Getting a determined nod from them, with Rukia somewhat bewildered by Chad's tacit agreement, Ichigo continued,

"Kon, you what to do."

With merely a nod in response, the mod soul was off in a blur, racing towards the soccer field that Ichigo's sisters would be on.

Satisfied that his sisters would be taken care of, Ichigo prepared to send Chad to their own school to see to Tatsuki, Orihime, and whoever else might still be there, before he suddenly paled in horror as he recalled that Yuzu would not be on the field yet, since it was her turn to clean up their homemaking class.

Torn in his decision – and unwilling to send Rukia out to face hollows in her condition – Ichigo said,

"Yuzu is still in the school."

Immediately, Chad grasped his dilemma, and he too floundered for a seconds, before Rukia intervened.

Before any of the two teens could react, she peeled off, headed for their school while shouting back,

"Chad, you go, I'll get Orihime-chan and Tatsuki-chan."

Momentarily, Ichigo locked gazes with her and she looked how he imagined he must have looked the night before as she failed to convince him to stay out of the coming mess. With an exasperated huff, he nodded at Chad, who immediately took off for Karakura Middle school to backup Kon and protect Yuzu.

With the most vulnerable locations in the town taken care of – for some reason, hollows always went for kids first, Ichigo prepared to move out as well.

In the few seconds that it had taken the three to mobilize, Ishida had merely stood there staring at them as they bustled to their positions.

Suddenly feeling eyes on him, he looked up, only to take an unconscious step back at the look of rage in the orange haired teen's eyes.

When Ichigo spoke, Ishida could swear that the air between them vibrated with the force of his fury,

"When this is over, me and you are going to have a _talk_."

And then, with the bespectacled teen watching on, Ichigo vanished from sight with a whisper of sound and a flutter of black and silver, leaving the four hollows that had been sneaking up on them to fall to the ground, all rapidly dissolving as their heads rolled to a stop.

* * *

Rukia panted as the last of the controlled teens crumpled to the ground in unconsciousness. Turning her gaze to the side, she found a slightly bruised Orihime and similarly exhausted Tatsuki.

She had managed to get to the school in time to help the two girls avoid getting hit by attacks launched from the hollow that looked like a chandelier. The unconscious teens, Chizuru amongst them, had not been so lucky, thus forcing the three girls to knock them out as they were being forced to attack them.

The hollow known as the Numb Chandelier gazed at the three humans below it, two of whom could actually see it – suggesting a tasty bounty about to be had. It was amused as it watched them catch their breaths after knocking out its puppets, somehow thinking that that was all it took to thwart it. It let loose a chuckle which drew their attention, before it twitched a limb, causing them to pale as the teens lying around them slowly began to get back to their feet.

Letting out a maliciously entertained chuckle, the hollow drew the attentions of the teens and spoke,

"While I must agree that it was amusing to watch you struggle, I'm afraid that I've grown tired of this…now, time to die."

Tatsuki, Rukia, and Orihime all put up quite a fight, but the toll of their injuries so far was too much, and before long, all three were subdued.

Tatsuki struggled to toss off the teens that were holding her down, but given that she had had an intense training session that afternoon, she was completely spent.

Rukia couldn't even dredge up a sliver of reiatsu to resist her opponents; she was completely spent and at their mercy.

Orihime, though valiantly putting to good use the various moves Tatsuki had taught her, lacked the stamina and tenacity that the other two girls possessed.

Together, all three girls lay under a pile of controlled students, much too tired put up any struggle whatsoever.

Numb Chandelier cast a satisfied gaze onto the finally subdued teens, practically drooling at the upcoming feast. Deciding to twist the knife further – having learnt that feelings like grief, rage, and sorrow added flavor to devoured souls, it spoke,

"You know, I think that I shall have two of you kill each other while the third one watches, hmmm?"

Orihime, following its gaze to Rukia and Tatsuki frantically struggled to get away from the arms pinning her, causing her captive to land a painful blow on the back of her head, forcing her face into the concrete of the roof and leaving her dazed.

Tatsuki, seeing what had happened, let loose an involuntary cry of alarm,

"Orihime!"

Chuckling to itself, the hollow drew a bead on the two brunettes and prepared to fire off headshots.

* * *

A few miles away, Ichigo whirled in alarm as he faintly picked up Tatsuki's alarmed voice. Casting his senses out, he cursed as he felt Rukia, Tatsuki, Orihime, as well as many other students facing a moderately powerful hollow which was gathering its reiatsu for something.

Just as he prepared to dash off, he found himself surrounded by a horde of hollows numbering at least twenty.

Narrowing his eyes in anger, he worried that he might not make it in time.

* * *

Ishida Uryuu gritted his teeth as he fired off powerful arrow after powerful arrow at the hollows attacking him, studiously ignoring the numerous cuts that now marred his fingers from the continued strain of keeping up the uninterrupted salvo.

He was feeling faint regret at his rash actions from earlier as he saw people fleeing from some of the collateral damage being wrought by their actions.

Absently, he realized that the bait should not have attracted quite as many hollows, nor hollows of such caliber.

Then, all such thoughts fled his mind as he picked up on a faint voice screaming a name he knew well,

"Orihime!"

Though they had never really had much of a conversation between them, she always seemed to have a kind – if nonsensical – word to share with him whenever they did run into each other.

It was one thing to look at strangers caught in the crossfire of his hatred and feel vague pity, it was then another to see a classmate in danger and know that he and his pride were the cause of it.

Wasting no time, he immediately began using his not-yet-mastered **Hirenkyaku** (God Step), pushing his already strained body to get to the school in time to save his classmates.

* * *

Orihime watched with tears in her eyes as Tatsuki was repeatedly stomped on in retaliation for her attempt to react to the blow dealt to Orihime.

Turning her head to the side, she felt her blood freeze as she saw Rukia's still form with her eyes closed.

Struggling, she reached out her hand and just barely managed to grasp Rukia's wrist, finally letting herself breathe as she felt a faint flutter denoting her friend's pulse.

Noticing the sudden lack of blows from her other side, she turned and failed to suppress a low sound of despair as she watched Tatsuki also succumb to her wounds and fall unconscious.

Turning back to the cackling monster, she watched as it seemed to aim at her two friends, and in a flash of cold terror, she realized that it was sighting their foreheads.

Clenching her eyes shut, she prayed for a miracle,

"_Something_…_someone_…_help us_."

And in the depths of the brunette's soul, something stirred from its century long slumber.

* * *

The entity felt its own weakened state and knew that it could not bring to bear its godly powers in the situation.

Just as it prepared to return to rest, it sensed a flutter of power a distance away; a soul, with such immeasurable potential that the entity would be in awe were it capable of such higher thought processes.

Reaching out, it grasped a tiny portion of the being's soul – which also had a vague feel of its host's own energy, and thoughtlessly ripped off the tiny piece, much too little for its loss to harm the soul.

It considered the soul sliver it held – well, as much as a nonliving entity could be said to consider – and realized that it would not be enough.

Unless…as the solution came it, it was already implementing it.

Marshaling its reality redefining powers, it rapidly matured the soul piece in its possession, forcing it to realize the vast potential that it had possessed, leaving it access to immeasurable – _transcendent_ – power.

Finally, just before it prepared to return to its state of slumber, the entity set about satisfying its primary objective; fulfilling the will of the one that had stirred it awake.

As it sensed its workings taking root, it incorporated what was left of the power it had borrowed and finally slipped back into its state of rest as traces of black and red intermixed with its mixture of blue and white energy.

If it were capable of such feelings, it would have felt pleased with the strength of the will of the one who had awoken it…a will to defy reality itself.

Then with an untraceable flicker of odd reiatsu, the Hougyoku was still once more.

* * *

As Numb Chandelier finished gathering its energy, it prepared to launch its missiles, just as an eruption of golden reiatsu tossed away a majority of its minions, freeing the girls held underneath.

Flinching in shock, it involuntarily let loose its projectiles, vaguely noting that its aim was still on target.

Rising effortlessly, as a wellspring of power flowed into her, Inoue Orihime peripherally took in a few facts:

First, all her injuries were healed, and she felt better than she had since the fiasco had begun.

Second, she noticed a black clad Ichigo materializing at the edge of the roof, seemingly stumbling as he came into view, as well as a broad katana sailing towards the monster that had attacked them.

Third, Ishida Uryuu seemed to have also arrived at the same time as Ichigo, though he came baring a glowing blue bow in his hand.

Fourth, two green spikes were racing towards her friends, aiming to pierce them in their foreheads.

Fifth and final, her arms were rising of their own volition with her palms facing the monster before her.

A second before the missiles reached his classmates, Ichigo struggled to regain his balance after the muted spike of pain that he had felt all the way in the depths of his soul.

As he watched his sword skewer the hollow in its face, he knew that it had been too late to halt its attack – he was also in no position to intercept the attack about to hit Rukia and Tatsuki.

Ishida's arrow pierced the hollow a heartbeat after Ichigo's sword did.

Even as he tried to manipulate the spirit particles around him, he knew that his body was too strained to protect his classmates as the attack neared them.

With the spikes inches from their position, Orihime's voice cut through the despairing silence, speaking words that seemed to flow forth from the depths of her soul,

"**Santen Kesshun, I reject!" **

Ishida and Ichigo gaped as a glowing gold shield sprang up in front of the three girls, easily deflecting the two projectiles aimed at them**.**

Still moving on autopilot, Orihime then dropped her hand, causing the shield to disperse, and said,

"**Souten Kisshun**" (Twin Sacred Return Shield).

A huge gold oval sprung up around Tatsuki and Rukia, and before the startled eyes of the three observing teens, the wounds on the two girls healed up, leaving them unmarred and healthy.

Before either Ichigo or Ishida could react to the recent events, Orihime dropped in a dead faint, scaring the crap out of her classmates.

As Ichigo slid to a stop beside her, he frantically checked her for injuries, only allowing himself to relax once he certified that she was merely resting.

Hearing footsteps approaching, he raised his eyes to lock with the hesitant gaze of Ishida Uryuu, easily reading the remorse and guilt in the eyes staring back at him.

Just as he prepared to speak to the other teen, they both turned as they heard slow applause coming from off to the side.

Slowly stepping forwards, with the _click-clack_ of his sandals preceding him, Urahara Kisuke revealed himself to the teens before him.

As he felt Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu step up beside him, he began to speak in his disarmingly cheerful tone,

"Mah, Kurosaki-san, don't worry about those three, they are just -"

Abruptly, his words cut off as a curtain of potent reiatsu descended on the entire town.

Eyes widened in visible surprise and no small amount of disbelief, Kisuke turned his gaze upwards, causing the others to follow his lead, just in time to witness a crack appear in the fabric of space high above the town.

While the others gaped in stunned silence as the air was rent apart to reveal an endless swirl of darkness, Kisuke lower his head in thought, his quick mind easily deducing the cause for the presence of the new foe.

Standing from his crouched position, Ichigo made his way towards Kisuke's group, as did Ishida. Absently, his right hand reached to his side and caught his suddenly approaching sword, too distracted to notice the reactions of those around him at the act.

Together, the gathered people watched as a towering giant hollow, clad in a long nosed white mask and flowing black robes, stepped through the portal into their world, bringing with it a vast horde of airborne hollows.

Ichigo gripped his sword tightly as his eyes narrowed at the new arrivals making their way towards the town.

Just as they all prepared to leap into battle, a gasp from behind drew their attention to a pale and shaking Kuchiki Rukia.

Following her gaze, they looked up to find two other cracks in the sky, which were rapidly opening, and in each of their depths, a hint of a huge long nosed white mask.

* * *

**AN: Well then, there you are. A couple of notes in this chapter:**

**As you can see, I am going with Orihime keeping her powers, though with a few tweaks from me, such as the source of her powers not being Ichigo this time – at least, not directly – as well as the way they function…more on this later. **

**Next, on the relatively longer update time…honestly, between school and working two jobs, there's no way I can keep on spitting out 10k worded chapters every two weeks. Still, since the Naruto fic is reaching its conclusion, I can only hope that I will then have more time for this fic.**

**Lastly, and most importantly, go back and read this chapter again. No, seriously. There were three very important little nuggets of information buried in the chapter. Two of them involve the nature of Ichigo's Spiritual powers, Zangetsu, and his…well...you'll see. I have no doubt that some of you will deduce, somewhat accurately, what those bits of information are and what they are suggesting…**

**Please leave a comment if you can. Thank you for taking the time to read and review my story.**


End file.
